


The Tal’ist

by stargatefan_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-10-29
Updated: 2004-10-29
Packaged: 2018-10-06 14:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 35,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10336324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargatefan_archivist/pseuds/stargatefan_archivist
Summary: SPOILERS:  Fire and Water: but trust me, its so teeny weenie that if youblink you’ll miss it entirely.SEASON:  late Season 2SUMMARY: On a seemingly abandoned planet, two members of SG-1 areambushed by an unknown enemy engaged in an age-old civil war. They’re quicklyseparated from the others miles from the Stargate while the remaining two arefaced with the daunting task of finding and rescuing their missing team membersthrough the very heart of enemy territory. Time is against them and loyaltiesare uncertain as SG-1 struggles to survive and to find their way home.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

The Tal'ist

SG-1 stepped through the Stargate onto P3X-907 at 0900 hours, Earth time. 

Colonel Jack O'Neill quickly donned his sunglasses against the bright rays of the single sun which sat high overhead, indicating that the planet's natural solar rotation was actually several hours ahead of Earth's. While scanning the horizon for a standard threat assessment, he immediately noticed that the grassy terrain around the Gate extended less than twelve feet before blending smoothly into the thick forests surrounding them, in all but one direction. Luckily, that was the very direction Daniel had been so keyed up about heading in at the briefing.

He'd gone on for a considerable amount of time about pictures the UAV had sent back of the ruins of an abandoned village or city and what he expected to find there. Jack admitted to himself that though he'd appeared to be attempting to ignore what the archaeologist was prattling on about, he'd actually absorbed a fair amount of the details.

Apparently, there was a sizeable amount of evidence to suggest that the native people of 907 might have a strong connection to the ancient Celts of Earth. Despite himself, Jack found that he was actually interested in finding out if Daniel's theories were, as usual, correct. Of course, he'd never actually tell Daniel that.

"Sir, my readings confirm my earlier suspicions that we would find trace amounts of Naqadah in the soil here," Carter said, capping one of the tubes she'd already collected a sample in and grabbing another. As she filled the second one with more dark brown dirt she continued. "If we can head in the direction of the mountains the UAV scanned and collect more samples there, we may be able to determine if there are enough remaining deposits to warrant further action toward establishing our own mining facilities here."

O'Neill turned around to face her and realized he must have allowed his mind to wander a bit longer than he'd realized if Carter had already had time to begin collecting 'souvenirs'. Of course, knowing how excited she'd been at the briefing about possibly finding a source of Naqadah for the SGC, she'd more than likely wasted less than a second before launching into confirming all those fascinating theories she'd just mentioned and immediately started scooping up dirt for her collection.

"Alright," he began, quickly deciding how they could manage to get everything done and still, hopefully, avoid spending the night on this planet.

It was unlikely that they'd be able to cover the six or so miles between the Gate and the mountain range to the west, then perform the barrage of tests Carter had planned for that unsuspecting mountain and still have enough time left over to travel the other mile and a half beyond that to reach the village ruins Daniel wanted to see. Even if they could accomplish all that, he wouldn't be able to give Daniel enough time to do much more than glance at the architecture before the sun set. Tempting their team archaeologist with only a glimpse of something obviously so fascinating to him could prove to be very unpleasant for O'Neill for nearly a week afterward.

Sometimes, missions like these gave him serious headaches. There was only one solution. At some point, they'd have to split up.

"Let's get moving then."

– – – – 

It was exactly six and three-quarter miles to the base of the mountain. Jack stood more than a hundred feet from it, craned his neck as far back as it would go, and still couldn’t even get a glimpse of the peak. There were so many large tunnels everywhere that it seemed like a small miracle that the mountain was still standing. The little vegetation that clung to the dark brown rock was mostly clustered together in small patches of dried weeds that were scattered all across the cliff face. It was not exactly what one might call a scenic attraction.

As the team approached the base, Carter was already using one of her little doohickeys to scan for signs of Naqadah. She spun around so unexpectedly, that Jack nearly ran into her.

"Whoa," Jack said, taking a quick step to the left to avoid a collision. "How about a little warning next time, Captain."

Sam stood there a second, her eyes wide, surprised at herself for her unusual display of single-mindedness. It wasn’t like her to allow herself to get so caught up in her thoughts like that, especially while on a mission. She was usually much more alert than that.

Jack cocked his head to the side at her silence, wondering if maybe she’d spaced out for a moment. "Hello?" He said, slowly waving a hand before her eyes.

Sam blinked and took a step back, feeling a little foolish. "Sorry, sir," she quickly apologized, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was now looking at her. "These readings are much higher than I anticipated," she said, indicating the numbers displayed on the scanner in her hand. "I guess I got a little excited."

Jack shrugged. "Don’t sweat it, Carter. Daniel does that all the time."

Daniel spun around to give Jack an irritated glare. "I do not," he said in his own defense, wondering how he’d gotten dragged into the middle of it.

Jack merely grinned and glanced back at Carter. "So how long do you think it’ll take to run all your tests?"

Sam raised one eyebrow and turned back to face the mountain, seriously considering the question. "I don’t know, sir." She shot a quick glance at Daniel as she continued. "Several hours at least." She didn’t miss the look of disappointment that crossed his face. Apparently, neither did the Colonel. He took a few steps forward until he could see all of them at once.

"Well kids, if we’re going to get everything done before the sun sets, we’re going to have to do a little multitasking." He paused as though he was just now making the decision—there was no point in scaring everybody by letting them know that he _did_ occasionally see these problems ahead of time.

"Teal’c, you and Carter stay here and run all those fascinating scans and probes and things, and Daniel and I will go on ahead to those ruins." He tried not to laugh at the way Daniel lit up at the idea. "We’ll meet up and make camp there when you finish here."

Sam smiled and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Teal’c, as usual, merely nodded.

Jack turned and started walking toward the ruins with Daniel following close behind. They’d taken less than a dozen steps when Jack glanced behind him to call over his shoulder, "Check-in at regular half hour intervals."

– – – – 

Jack cautiously walked around the perimeter of the village ruins a second time, keeping a close eye on the tree line that bordered one side of the outer wall. Something about this place bothered him and he had yet to figure out what that something was. Of course, that was probably what bothered him the most about it. He didn't like feeling uneasy about something...not being able to put his finger on the cause only made the feeling worse.

He stepped through the crumbling archway of what used to be massive towering walls surrounding the village on three sides. On the short walk to the village, he'd noticed through a break in the forest how the fourth side of the ruins was strategically set to face the edge of a very steep, very wide ravine with an impressively savage river churning at the bottom. Considering the whole structure was placed atop a sizeable hill as well, it seemed as though it would have been fairly easy to defend, which made it all the more puzzling why it looked as though it had been demolished shortly before it was abandoned.

O'Neill picked his way through the debris littering the main dirt roadway leading through the center of the ruins and quickly spotted Daniel walking along the top of one of the few remaining sections of the outer wall. He drew closer and waited for the other man to notice him. When he simply continued his perusal of the wall, Jack decided to get the archaeologist's attention.

"Daniel."

Completely taken by surprise, Daniel jumped at the sound of his name and nearly lost his footing as his thoughts were quite effectively interrupted for the third time in less than fifteen minutes.

Jack must be more bored than usual, or he'd managed to do something again that the other man felt justified interrupting his train of thought. Just a few minutes ago it had been the fact that he had failed to acknowledge Jack on the radio. He'd been so caught up in studying the nearly faded writing on several of the stones near the entryway he honestly hadn't heard the message come through.

Jack of course reminded him that if he'd keep his earpiece actually in his ear where it belonged, then he wouldn't have that problem. Instead, he'd be more than able to hear him that way as Jack could simply shout directly into his ear. Daniel, of course, had politely ignored him and his ranting until he'd gotten bored and wandered off to do another sweep of the perimeter.

With a heavy sigh, Daniel turned and looked down to find Jack standing about four feet below him on the ground. From the look on his face, Daniel guessed that Jack was more than likely not thrilled at finding him standing atop a mostly crumbled wall that had already yielded up a significant section of itself to the ravine far below the village.

However, unwilling to admit that he had allowed his curiosity to get the better of his good judgment again, Daniel merely responded with, "Jack."

"You know...for a guy with a problem with heights, you sure do pick the absolute _worst_ places to go exploring," Jack said, making a valiant attempt to control the urge to kick the base of the wall just to see if it really was as unstable as it appeared and prove to Daniel exactly _why_ climbing on ancient and obviously damaged walls was _not_ a good idea.

"I'm not _that_ high up, Jack."

"Sure. Not on _this_ side of the wall."

Daniel glanced over the far side of the wall and swallowed. Jack, unfortunately, was right.

At some point during his close inspection of the strange mineral veins he'd found in the stones used to build the wall, he'd managed to walk right onto the last remaining section that overlooked the steep drop into the ravine. Considering how unstable the whole section was, a strong enough wind would probably have been enough to send him and a good portion of the wall tumbling into the water far below him. He quickly decided that he'd effectively sated his curiosity for now and would be much safer on the nice sturdy ground.

Stepping a few paces away from the wall Jack casually spoke over his shoulder. "You realize that if you fall, I'm not jumping in after you, don't you?"

Daniel glanced over the wall again at the water churning at the bottom of the ravine and nodded. It was at least several stories down. Grudgingly, he replied, "Yeah, I get the point."

Jack watched with a fair amount of envy as Daniel walked a short distance to where the wall was a few feet shorter, simply crouched down, and jumped off the wall, bending his legs as he landed so that his feet and knees would not take the brunt of the impact as he landed from the seven or so foot drop onto a thickly weeded patch of grass below. Watching the other man spring around like that reminded him of how often he'd tried things like that himself, until he'd injured his knee several years back. Now, every time he got that urge, his body promptly reminded him what a very bad idea that would be.

Daniel straightened and smiled somewhat sheepishly when he noticed Jack watching him. He'd forgotten how far up he actually was and was sure that had he not been in such a hurry to put his feet back on solid ground again, he'd never have jumped like that in the first place. The last thing he needed to do was to injure himself in some way this far from the Gate. Besides that, Jack would never let him live it down.

Glancing at the wall again, Daniel shrugged and quickly put some distance between him and what was hiding on the other side of that wall. Mentally referring to the map he'd designed in his head of the layout of the ruins, he headed back toward the center of the ruins where he'd found a pedestal with symbols carved into it before getting distracted by the wall. Now, he glanced back over the small symbols and tried to recall what he could of the Celtic language and compared it with what was engraved on the stone slab before him.

He realized somewhere in the back of his mind that Jack was not far behind him, listening to Sam's report over the radio for the pre-designated check-in. She was, as always, exactly on time. Perfectionism at its finest.

As Sam concluded reporting her progress, Daniel managed to catch the last of what they were saying. It seemed as though she'd found something interesting she wanted to study further, and that it would be at least another hour before she was finished. Although that didn't really give him much time, it was still more than he'd expected. He realized the fact the ruins could provide some interesting information about how the culture on this planet had evolved independently from the one on Earth wasn’t a strong enough argument to convince the brass that held the purse strings at SGC to allow him to do a study as in depth as he wanted. _If_ they decided to allow a team to return at all, it wouldn’t be a first contact team like SG-1.

He sighed in resignation. Sometimes, being a member of the SGC's flagship team had its definite drawbacks.

"Keep me apprised, Captain," Jack said over the radio, effectively pulling Daniel's thoughts back to the here and now.

"Yes, sir," came the immediate response.

"O'Neill out." _One hour_ , Jack thought to himself. Well, Daniel had already been at it for over three hours and was showing no signs of slowing down. That meant he'd either have to keep the young man company and risk being drawn into another lecture about his latest discovery, or try to steer his attention toward a more interesting topic, like the...

He paused in mid-thought as he realized what Daniel was doing. Though it looked like Daniel was attempting to translate the squiggly symbols on the thin slab of stone, Jack couldn't make much sense of his method.

"Daniel..." he said, purposefully adding a hint of a question to his voice.

"Hmm?"

Jack smiled. Daniel was obviously distracted and probably hadn't even been all that aware of his presence until now.

"What are you doing?"

A perplexed look on his face, Daniel turned to face his friend. He smothered the urge to respond in what Jack usually called a 'snarky' manner and opted for the more direct route.

"What I usually do. Attempting to translate this," he gestured to the pillar in front of him, "and entertaining you." He smiled widely as Jack rolled his eyes.

Not to be deterred, Jack took a step toward the linguist and crouched beside him. He glanced at the pillar, then back at Daniel.

"Do you _usually_ translate ancient squiggles upside down, or is this some odd behavior you’ve just _recently_ adopted?"

Daniel cocked his head to the side in confusion and turned back to the pillar, trying to follow Jack's line of reasoning. He looked over the pillar again and laughed as he realized what Jack was referring to.

"It's supposed to be read that way." He glanced back at Jack and was surprised to see that for once he appeared to have the other man's full attention. Wondering if maybe he'd actually found a culture in which Jack shared an interest, Daniel attempted to explain without the usual detail. He didn't want to risk losing Jack's interest by bogging the other man down with information he'd see as 'useless extras'.

"There's a form of ancient Celtic script that is read starting here," he pointed to a spot near the very bottom of the pillar where the text began, "and ending here," he traced his finger up the line of symbols and ended near the top of the pillar.

Jack shook his head. He'd thought Daniel had been reading that stuff upside down.

"Wouldn't that get confusing after a while?"

Daniel smiled and shrugged. "I suppose if there were enough of the text all in one place and the..." he paused as Jack's entire demeanor changed and he lifted one hand between them, motioning for silence. He turned his head away as though listening for something and stood up, taking several steps back toward the edge of the village wall.

Jack spun around, bringing his weapon up to bear as his sweep of the ruins was interrupted a second time by a sudden sound off to his right. He stepped behind one of the few remaining buildings nearby and scanned the horizon. Within seconds he found the source of the noise and quickly moved back toward Daniel.

This planet was _supposed_ to be uninhabited.

Daniel was acutely aware of Jack's presence as he stopped and crouched beside him. He was tempted to ask what they were listening _for_ , but he stopped himself when he glanced up to see Jack signal to him in warning to be silent and indicated that there was danger nearby. Daniel quickly pulled his sidearm from its holster and crouching low, followed Jack a few feet to their right to take cover behind the only remaining wall of one of the rotting houses.

'Jaffa?' he mouthed silently in question.

Jack shook his head, negative, but before he could explain further, an arrow whizzed past from behind them, dangerously close to his head, and deeply buried itself in the remaining portion of the wooden wall they were kneeling behind. Jack immediately turned to find that another small party of men was headed their way, this time from the opposite direction as the first group.

"Why can't we ever run across natives who want to talk first instead of shoot at us," he muttered as he grabbed Daniel by the arm and crouching low, quickly led him further into the village.

Daniel ducked to avoid another arrow and immediately realized that they were not only surrounded, but were being forced to retreat toward the ravine edge. Things were quickly going downhill.

They ducked behind the remains of what appeared to have been a lean-to type building with the crumbling outer wall to their right. It wasn't much, but it offered cover on at least two sides and was therefore safer than simply standing in the center of the village and waiting for their new friends to come to them.

Jack grabbed his radio and softly said, "Carter, Teal’c, come in."

"We’re here, sir." came her quick reply in the same soft tone, obviously catching on to the need for quiet.

He'd gotten less than two words out to explain their situation when the first party of men he'd spotted near the forest edge breached the outer walls and confidently made their way toward them. Jack raised his gun but paused when Daniel laid his hand on his arm.

"Um, Jack?" 

He followed the direction Daniel was pointing and spotted the second group of men headed their way. They were outnumbered by at least five to one. He briefly considered shooting their way out of this, but decided to take the few moments they had left to inform Carter and Teal'c of their situation. He grabbed his radio and quickly relayed the information, telling them to maintain radio silence and approach with extreme caution. After all, it was possible this was all a misunderstanding and they could still find allies here. He nearly laughed at himself for even entertaining the idea but resisted the urge to fight his way out of it nonetheless.

– – – – 

Sam crouched low to the ground and quickly crossed the short distance between her and a large tree on the edge of the forest. Following the Colonel's orders, they'd kept a close eye out for _any_ signs of life, hostile or otherwise, during their sprint toward the village. In the end, it had taken them less than eight minutes to cover the mile and a half between them at a dead run, a new record even for her. Now, they were forced to approach the ruins at a much slower pace than she would have liked to prevent being detected by any potential guards on the look out for them. She cautiously peered around the tree she was using for cover and scanned the village for any sign of the others. She counted more than a dozen armed natives clustered around the furthest edge of the outer wall near the ravine, but no sign of either the Colonel or Daniel. She looked to Teal'c hoping he'd had better luck. He pointed to a small cluster of men somewhat set apart from the others. She scanned the group again and finally spotted them. She nodded, indicating she had seen them and signaled to him that they could follow the line of trees and get closer to the edge of the ravine. Teal'c nodded and turned to lead the way.

When they stopped to take cover again, they were only a little more than twenty feet away from the furthermost edge of the ruins.

Teal'c knelt behind a tree that closely resembled large oak on Earth, but quickly realized that the others were still out of hearing range, even for him. O'Neill and Daniel Jackson had been disarmed and were kneeling in the grass, only a few feet from the edge of the ravine behind them.

– – – – 

"I will ask again," the man Jack had determined was the leader began, directing his attention to Daniel, "what do you know of the Tal'ist?"

"I told you, we've never _heard_ of the Tal'ist," Daniel repeated for the third time the same response Jack had given the irate man moments before.

"Which Goa'uld do you serve?" he asked pacing back and forth in front of them.

"None, our people are free." Obviously this was the wrong thing to say as the leader paused momentarily beside him and backhanded him across the face. The force of the blow knocked him to the ground, eliciting a halfway-suppressed groan of pain from him.

"Hey!" Jack yelled, immediately reaching down to help him back up. "He's telling you the truth." 

Jack glanced at Daniel briefly, silently asking if he was all right, and nodded when he waved his hand through the air, indicating that he would live. He removed his glasses from their precarious position hanging off one ear and hid them from view. Once again, Jack wondered what those things were made of these days just to make them durable enough to withstand these kinds of missions. He’d never figure out how Daniel managed to hold on to them.

"You lie," the leader said simply, effectively bringing Jack's attention back to their current problem. The leader turned to one of his men and took the proffered staff weapon from him, the only one they appeared to have, before turning back to face them. He turned the staff expertly in his hands and activated it before pointing it directly at Jack's chest and glaring at Daniel. "You will tell me the truth or your companion will die."

"No!" Daniel cried, trying desperately to think of a way to convince the man he _was_ telling the truth.

"Then _tell_ me what you know of the Tal'ist."

Jack was quickly getting irritated with the whole situation. "We've _already_ told you three times, we don't _know_ what the Tal'ist _is_. Maybe if you'd just tell us what the hell you're talking about, we'd be able to tell you..."

"Quiet!" The leader brought the charged end of the staff weapon dangerously close to the side of Jack's face and held it there for several seconds while he spoke. "Do you really expect me to believe that you do not know to what I am referring when your companion here greeted me and my people in their language?"

_  
_

That's what all this is about? Daniel thought. When they'd first entered the village, the leader had called out to them in what Daniel had surmised to be a slightly altered version of the Celtic language. His knowledge of that language was fairly limited but he'd tried to recall as much of it as possible. He'd assumed that to be their native tongue and had greeted them in a fairly close approximation of the language with the unique pronunciation of the vowels that the leader had used.

After that, everything had gone to hell in a flash. They were quickly surrounded on three sides, effectively cutting off any chance at escape, forced to lay down their guns and drop to their knees on the ground. When the leader had then begun to question them in English, he'd been more than a little confused as to the odd greeting. Now, he was even more lost than before.

"You don't understand," he said, wary of the staff weapon which was now pointed at him.

The leader's expression turned dark and he stepped toward him threateningly but paused when one of his men abruptly called out, "The Tal'ist attack!"

Jack wasted no time before springing into action when the leader glanced in the direction the warning had come from. He wrapped his hand around the staff and jerked sharply upward on it, throwing the other man's balance off badly enough that he had to take several steps backward in order to remain upright. Jack wasn't prepared for the other man's lightning quick reaction and found himself struggling with the man for control of the staff.

Knowing that Jack was focusing all his attention on the man he was fighting, Daniel searched around him for something he could use as a weapon to back him up. He caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see one of the natives take careful aim at Jack’s back with his bow. Daniel hesitated only the briefest of moments, realizing he was still unarmed and obviously at a great disadvantage, before launching himself at the other man. 

– – – – 

At the sound of the warning of attack, Sam and Teal'c both broke cover and raced toward the ruins. They'd been planning to make a distraction of their own and had been moments away from implementing it when the cry of alarm had sounded. Taking full advantage of the fact that the natives had split their attention between their captives and their enemy, and counting on the fact that the latter would prove of greater importance to them than the former, they quickly made their way across the open field toward their companions.

They'd just breached the outer wall when Sam caught sight of the Colonel still several feet away from her. She considered offering him assistance with the man he was fighting but quickly dismissed the idea when he turned the tables on the man and gained the upper hand, landing a solid punch to the man’s jaw. The native crumpled to the ground in a heap at the Colonel's feet. He briefly caught her eye and nodded before turning back to help Daniel who she now realized was struggling with another man who was obviously twice his size.

Her attention was effectively brought back to the battle being fought around her as an arrow narrowly missed her leg and, instead, imbedded itself in the ground nearby. She took cover and prepared to fire only if she was threatened directly, not wanting to be drawn into whatever conflict the two groups were engaged in if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

– – – – 

Jack turned his attention to Daniel who was still struggling with one of the natives for control of a wicked looking blade. He started toward him, but just before he reached them, another man who obviously took exception to the fact that Jack had effectively taken out his leader intercepted him.

Daniel tightened his grip on the blade and once again pushed it away from his chest. His arms were beginning to tire from struggling with the stronger man and he realized that he was steadily backing him toward the edge of the ravine. He knew that if he allowed himself to give in even an inch, he could easily find himself on the wrong end of that blade.

He took another step back to maintain his balance and immediately regretted it. He felt the ground shift beneath his foot and realized a fraction of a second too late what was happening.

Jack glanced back at Daniel, watching him as everything around him suddenly seemed to stick in slow motion. Daniel was standing less than five feet away from him, still struggling for control of the knife and slowly backing toward the ravine. Jack quickly ended the fight with the man who had attacked him with a few well-placed punches.

"Dan-iel!" he cried out in warning realizing he was already too late as the ground beneath the younger man's feet gave way. As Jack raced to cover the space between them he watched helplessly as Daniel attempted to avoid the other man's wild lunge forward by shifting his weight just enough so that the native overbalanced. Unfortunately, his opponent was not willing to let go of him just yet and clung to him as they both pitched over the side of the ravine and disappeared from view.

Daniel instinctively twisted his body around, barely managed to grab a rock jutting out of the dirt, and clung to it. He hung there for only a brief moment before he felt his meager lifeline give way.

For one heart-stopping moment, he was falling.

Then he felt someone firmly grab his wrist and halt his downward progress. He was completely disoriented and too stunned to do anything other than glance upward. His heart felt as though it was securely lodged in his throat and his arms were still shaking from the effort he'd exerted trying to prevent himself from being filleted alive, but as recognition of who was tightly grasping his wrist finally filtered through his mind, he allowed himself to take a deep calming breath. His sense of relief, however, quickly began to fade, and then vanished altogether as more of the ravine edge crumbled away.

Jack struggled to maintain his grip as most of the ground beneath his arms tumbled into the churning water below. The sudden shift of Daniel's weight onto his upper body nearly pulled him over the edge. He leaned back as far as he could, but he was still lying stretched out across the ground with the majority of his upper body dangling off the side of the ravine. He tightened his grip on Daniel's right wrist and latched his other hand onto a rock protruding from the ravine face nearby, trying to give himself some kind of leverage.

Daniel felt them slip further down together and realized that Jack couldn't pull them both back onto solid ground alone. He tried digging his foot into the dirt but felt it give way the moment he put weight on it. The ravine was just too brittle for him to attempt to climb up it. If he didn’t do something soon, they were both going to fall.

"Jack," he said softly, attempting to convey his intentions with that one word.

Jack looked at him for only a few seconds already shaking his head no as Daniel said, "Let go."

"Are you nuts?" It was a struggle just to force those few words past the pressure on his chest and the strain of balancing their combined weight.

"Let go, or we're both gonna fall."

"Daniel, hold on." 

Jack glanced over his shoulder and spotted Teal'c some distance away, already heading toward them. "Teal'c!"

Daniel shook his head. "Jack, just…" he stopped as they slipped another inch. His instincts were screaming at him to do something, anything, his sense of self-preservation almost overwhelming. But the thought of taking Jack with him… His desire to prevent that was much stronger than anything else.

They slipped again, and Daniel realized that once more was all it would take to pitch them both over. "Jack, _please_! Just let go."

"No!" Jack yelled the word softly but vehemently, channeling all his frustration at their situation into that one moment. He looked down, saw the determination in Daniel's eyes and knew how much he wanted to prevent pulling him over the edge.

Jack shook his head again; he wasn't prepared to give up. It was a long way down and there was no guarantee the water would cushion Daniel’s fall very much, if at all. Even if it did, who could say whether or not it was deep enough to prevent killing him. There _were_ no other options. They'd either both stay on this side of the ravine edge, or they'd both... 

"Jack, please," Daniel pleaded softly as he relaxed his grip on Jack's arm, trying to force the issue, but Jack merely tightened his hold that much more, adding his other hand to his grip. His frustration was growing, but he was afraid that if he moved again, he'd only make things worse and tip them over. 

Attempting to ignore the fear so clear in Daniel's voice, Jack glanced over his shoulder again and shouted, "Te-al'c!"

Just as he caught sight of the Jaffa rushing through the live battlefield toward them, he felt the ground beneath him give way one final time.

**  
**

Chapter 2

Teal'c noticed the precarious position O'Neill and Daniel Jackson were in seconds after the archaeologist went over the edge of the ravine. He immediately abandoned his cover and began to dart in between the ruined buildings, attempting to reach his friends without getting skewered by an arrow in the process. When he realized they were slipping, he abandoned all thought of his own safety and made a mad dash toward them.

In the seconds it took for him to cross the village, his teammates slowly inched closer to the edge. He heard O'Neill call his name and saw him disappear from view seconds before he reached the place they had been.

He froze in his tracks, unable to believe that he'd been so close to lending aid. He turned when he heard the startled cry from behind him and barely had time to recognize the blur that sped past him as Captain Carter as she launched herself toward that spot. He caught her arm as she went and pulled her back before she reached the edge.

"Teal'c, what are you _doing_?" she demanded.

He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Let me go!" she cried, trying to break free of his grasp. "Daniel and the Colonel..."

"Captain Carter," he said firmly, somewhat louder than he had intended.

She froze and looked up at him as though finally realizing he was there for the first time. She blinked and stopped pulling against him.

"The ground is very unstable. We must show extreme caution or we..."

"I know, _I know_." She glanced behind her and seemed to regain her composure. "Teal'c..."

He nodded, hearing the fear and desperation in her voice. He released her and led her away from the gaping hole in front of them to a place where there was firmer ground that made it safer to look below for the others.

Sam glanced over the edge and was only marginally relieved to discover the rapidly churning river some distance below them. At least it was _possible_ the water cushioned their fall. She scanned the surface of the water for any signs of movement. Her gaze followed the direction it was flowing, but she still didn't see any sign of them.

"Teal'c...do you see anything?"

He took a long breath and looked again carefully before softly replying, "I do not." 

"Oh, God. You don't think they..."

He shook his head. "I do not. Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson are both very strong and very adept swimmers. I believe we will find them..." he cut himself off as his instincts warned him of danger nearby. He spun around with his staff weapon ready to fire and realized it was already too late. How had he not heard their approach?

Startled by Teal’c’s behavior, Sam spun around the same instant an unfamiliar voice spoke. She was faced with the sight of three heavily armed men who were quickly joined by nearly a dozen others.

– – – – 

Daniel first became aware of an overwhelming sense of exhaustion that was quickly followed by a sharp almost unbearable pain that coursed throughout the left side of his body. He felt like he'd been run over...repeatedly. Everything was either very tender, or sending clear messages of pain directly to his brain.

He was lying on his stomach on something cool but wet. He attempted to push himself up and quickly realized that was an incredibly bad idea when the sharp pain in his arm intensified enough to steal his breath. He shifted, trying to rest the majority of his weight on his other side. He carefully turned onto his back and took several deep breaths. Slowly, the agony in his left arm dulled to only a deep throbbing pain, as he lay there, unable to move it. Breathing shallowly, so as not to disturb his arm now lying across his chest any further, he tried to make sense of the fragmented memories swirling through his mind.

He shifted his legs to test the rest of his limbs and felt his right foot bump into something soft. With a great amount of effort, he struggled to open his eyes and immediately recognized the blurry bedraggled shape lying next to him. Jack.

Concern for his friend temporarily overcame the nauseatingly intense pain and he forced himself to partially sit up. He dragged his upper body over the foot or so between them and immediately checked for a pulse. Finding that Jack not only had a strong and steady pulse, but that he was breathing fairly evenly, he allowed himself to collapse back onto what he now realized was grass cushioning him.

As he lay there, his mind was immediately filled with images, feelings, and sensations. He could recall everything but the fall itself with startling clarity. The only memory he had from that was the fear that had coursed through his entire body during those few seconds it took them to fall, fear more for Jack than for himself.

~~~~~~~

He hit the ice-cold water feet first, but the shock of it as it enveloped his entire body still stole his breath and nearly made him gasp. The only thing that prevented it was a last minute realization that he was still underwater.

For a brief moment, he battled a strong bout of vertigo and was unable to tell which direction was up. Grateful that he'd always been a fairly strong swimmer, he arbitrarily chose a direction and kicked his legs as hard as he was able, forcing himself toward and eventually through the surface of the water.

He gasped in a deep breath and struggled against the strong current to keep his head above water, trying to avoid the pieces of debris floating past him. Irritated with the hair now plastered to his face, he shoved the soaked strands out of his eyes and attempted to get his bearings.

His first concern was finding Jack. Water splashed into his face again, forcing him to shake his head and spit out the water that was constantly trying to pour into his nose and mouth. As he allowed the current to pull him along, he searched for any sign of Jack. Finding none, he began to worry that the other man had never resurfaced, and swam up stream, not really sure why he was headed in that direction.

Temporarily losing his constant battle against the strong undercurrents, he found himself swallowed by the force of the water and pulled underneath. He forced himself to swim harder and managed to push his head above water again.

"Daniel!"

He turned at the sound of his name and finally spotted Jack several feet away from him upstream, fighting the same battle.

"Jack!

Relief flooded through him. They’d both survived the fall. He began to swim against the current, trying to narrow the distance between them. It was almost too late when he finally spotted a large tree limb hurtling downstream toward him. Knowing there wasn’t time to move entirely out of its path, he attempted to turn his body enough to deflect it from doing any real damage.

Unfortunately, a branch snagged the sleeve of his jacket and dragged him along for the ride. While he was still attempting to extricate himself from it and keep his head above water at the same time, the river took an unexpected turn, sending the branch and its hapless victim spiraling toward the rock wall on one side of the riverbank. His left side took the brunt of the impact as he crashed into the wall. The branch promptly splintered apart and finally released him.

"Dan-iel!"

He turned again to the sound of his name, but immediately noticed something was wrong. Although the bitingly cold water had nearly numbed his entire body and he was still able to move his left hand to a small degree, he was unable to do so without causing a very strange grinding sensation in his shoulder and elbow that made his fingers tingle.

His arm hung uselessly at his side, now completely unresponsive. After only a few more attempts to move it, he quickly decided against the idea and tried to stay afloat using only one arm. Jack finally reached his side and as he latched onto his jacket, Daniel noticed that the pull of the water was lessening in its intensity.

"You alright?" Jack shouted above the roar of the water.

He nodded. "My arm," he said simply in explanation.

Jack nodded, they both realized there wasn't much they could do about it at the moment. Jack merely tightened his grip on him.

Daniel swam beside him the best he could as they attempted to make their way to the shore, his hair once again in his eyes. They rounded a corner and the river picked back up speed. He began having trouble keeping his head above water and his vision began to grow dark. "Jack, I'm..." he coughed as he swallowed some water and tried to continue, "I'm not...."

Jack nodded and grasped the collar of his jacket again and hauled his head above water. He struggled to stay coherent long enough to help reach shore. By the time they were within a few feet, he knew he was fading fast as everything continued to grow darker. By the time they were within a few feet of shore, he was unable to fight it any longer; within seconds he lost the battle and surrendered to the darkness.

~~~~~~~

Daniel glanced over at his friend again and realized that had Jack not been there, he probably wouldn't have made it through the trip downriver. Obviously Jack had kept him afloat and then dragged them both to safety. Then he'd somehow managed to pull them both far enough away from the edge of the river to conceal them in the thick underbrush they were lying in now. Daniel was guessing that was probably about the time that Jack had passed out. But from what, he could only guess.

The sounds of the river rushing by just out of sight reminded him of how close he'd come to not making it. He'd had more close calls than he'd care to admit over the last few years, but he'd never imagined he might go out by drowning. Ever since joining the Stargate program, he'd faced death a dozen different ways, but he’d always managed to either avoid it at the very last moment or by some miracle, come back again. Luckily, whatever overworked underpaid guardian angel he had out there watching over him, was still doing his job remarkably well.

He heard a faint moan and turned his head to see Jack beginning to stir just as exhaustion again swamped over him. He felt his eyelids begin to droop again and this time was able to offer little resistance against it. He felt himself quickly drift off again.

– – – – 

One man stepped forward and began speaking in a language Sam didn't recognize. However, the intention was clearly understood as the strangers aimed their weapons at them, 'Don't move or we'll shoot.'

"Teal'c, do you recognize their language?" Sam whispered.

"I do not."

She nodded. Where was Daniel when...she stopped herself before she could finish that thought as memories of exactly what had happened to him began to replay in her mind. She still felt so guilty and so utterly helpless. She'd been much closer to the Colonel than Teal'c had been and sincerely felt that she may have been able to do something to help them if she hadn't allowed herself to get so distracted by the men fighting around her.

She knew that playing out "What if..." scenarios in her mind wouldn't do anyone any good, least of all Daniel and the Colonel, but honestly, she couldn't stop herself from at least _wondering_ if maybe she could have changed things. She was abruptly brought back to reality when one of the men aiming arrows at them began speaking again.

"Who are you?"

His tone was much softer than she’d expected it to be. She stared at him for several seconds, unsure if she'd heard him correctly.

"Who are you?" he asked again in clear English.

Glancing briefly at Teal'c before responding she decided on a standard greeting they'd used countless times in the past.

"I'm Captain Carter and this is Teal'c. We're peaceful explorers from the planet Earth."

It didn't sound right to her for a number of reasons, with half of the team being absent, one of which the very man who most often did this part. She was hoping it would work anyway.

"This one is Jaffa."

Taking a cue from Colonel O'Neill, she responded, "Yes, but he's on our side now."

"Which god do you serve?"

Teal'c at last could remain silent no longer. "The Goa'uld are not gods. The Tau’ri are a free people. No Goa'uld rules there."

"How can I believe that what you say is true?"

"Because I have told you so, and I give you my word."

Wondering if maybe she should add something to Teal'c's declaration, Sam started to explain further when the leader at last lowered his bow and relaxed the tension on the arrow in his hand before replacing it in the quiver strapped to his back.

"Normally the word of a Jaffa would not mean much to me, but my men and I have been watching you since your arrival on this planet. We saw how you only had concern for your people's lives and attempted to avoid killing even those of the Galtain who were threatening their lives. I believe you speak the truth."

Trying desperately to process everything he'd managed to tell them in one breath, Sam asked, "You've been watching us?"

"Yes. My people have lived on Tal for many generations. In that time, we have learned how to observe without being seen."

_  
_

Yeah, apparently, she thought. Teal'c hadn't even noticed they were there. They were very well trained.

"We are called the Tal'ist." Upon noticing their apparent non-reaction, he continued. "It is the name we gave to ourselves when the last of the Jaffa left through the dark stone circle."

As tempted as she was to ask him to explain that last statement in further detail, Sam realized that the longer they stood here chatting away, the longer it would be before they found the others.

"Look, we're grateful you’ve trusted us and decided not to kill us but..."

"You wish to find those you have lost," he supplied in a very direct manner.

"Um...yeah."

"We can assist you in your search if you like."

Sam raised both eyebrows at that. They were offering to help them, just like that?

"Despite what you saw before, it is not the way of the Tal'ist to fight. We do so only to protect our homes and our families. In this case, it was to recover this map," he said holding up a crumpled piece of paper. "It shows where the Galtain have hidden the harvest that they stole from us less than four days ago."

He turned and handed the map to two of his men, instructing them to return to the village and get more men to help locate the food. He also told them to send a dozen more men to follow after him and join them in the search for 'the lost visitors'. He turned back to them and continued where he left off as though he'd never paused.

"If you would accept my offer of assistance then I am prepared to do what is needed to find your people. It is our custom to never turn away those in need. The gods...," he paused and a strange look crossed his face, "the _true_ gods, would not permit such behavior."

For a brief moment she wondered why this man was being so honest and forthcoming about things she hadn't even really asked him about, but pushed it aside to think about later. Right now, they had other more important things to worry about. Deciding that they could explain what needed explaining on the way, Sam nodded and accepted the man’s offer.

– – – – 

Jack drifted awake slowly, but once he was conscious enough to realize he was lying face down on the ground, instinct and years of military service kicked in.

He sat up quickly and immediately admitted his error when his head began to pound to the rhythm of his heartbeat. He pressed the heel of his hand against his right temple where the throbbing seemed to be concentrated and carefully opened his eyes.

He immediately noticed that Daniel was now lying closer to him than he recalled him being before he'd obviously lost consciousness and realized that the archaeologist must have awakened before him at some point. Forgetting about his already dimming headache, he reached out to check Daniel’s pulse.

Daniel instantly reacted to his touch by stirring and attempting to open his eyes.

"Daniel?"

Daniel finally managed to force his heavy lids open again and blinked to clear his vision. "Jack?" he said as he remembered who was hovering over him.

"Who else?"

Daniel smiled and attempted to sit up. The pain that raced throughout his arm and chest instantly made him regret it. He fell back as the shock of it overloaded his senses. He barely registered the fact that Jack had caught him just before his head would have hit the ground and was now supporting him.

"Daniel?"

Jack looked him over again and tried to determine what exactly was wrong with him. He was about to ask him outright, when he heard the rushing sounds of the river nearby and realized they were still out in the open and needed to find cover. They needed a place to hide out for the night at least that would provide some degree of protection from the elements and whatever might be crawling around out there just beyond their vision.

"Is it still your arm?" he asked noticing how Daniel was cradling it close to his chest.

"Yeah." He nodded. Jack continued to look at him expectantly and he admitted, "Headache."

"We need to find some shelter for the night. Can you stand?"

Daniel considered the question carefully. He wasn't entirely certain he could, given how shaky and exhausted he still felt, not to mention his headache and the pain in his shoulder, but he'd be damned if he was going to allow that to stop him now and put them both in more danger.

"Yeah, I think so."

Jack shook his head and tried not to smile. 'Stubborn to a fault,' he thought as he grasped Daniel's jacket front and helped to hoist him off the ground.

Daniel ground his teeth together to keep from crying out. Whatever he'd done to his arm hurt like hell.

"You alright?"

Daniel nodded. "I will be. I just need to sleep for a few days."

"Yeah, I know the feeling."

Not quite letting go, but allowing Daniel to support most of his own weight, Jack guided him through the dense forest, all the while keeping a close eye on both his companion and their surroundings. They'd been making slow progress for just over a quarter of an hour when Daniel just stopped.

"What?"

Breathing heavily, Daniel grimaced. "I need to rest a minute."

As Jack helped lower him to the ground with his back against a tree, he noticed the fine sheen of sweat that had broken out across Daniel's brow. Though the temperature had risen since they'd first stepped onto the planet, it wasn't nearly hot enough to cause that kind of reaction.

He wanted to take the time to find out what was really wrong with the scientist, but he also knew that as vulnerable as they were now, if the natives they'd fought earlier found them, they'd have no way to defend themselves and would be easy targets. They had to keep moving.

Daniel leaned his head back against the tree behind him and rested it there for a brief moment before slowly opening his eyes. He was utterly exhausted, and would kill for an aspirin, but knew he had to continue going considering the alternatives.

He glanced around him and squinted at his blurry surroundings. He realized his glasses were still tucked in his vest pocket and pulled them out. He sighed heavily when he saw the thick smudges covering both lenses. They'd obviously gotten wet when he'd fallen in the water and streaked as they dried. He allowed his hand to fall to his lap, too tired to even make the effort to clean them.

Jack turned back from surveying the area and noticed what Daniel held in his hand. He took the glasses from him, gently wiped them clean on a mostly dry corner of the hem of his shirt, and placed them on the bridge of Daniel's nose.

Daniel smiled. "Thanks, Jack."

"Don't mention it."

A thought suddenly occurred to him and he couldn't resist asking it. "Didn't you tell me you were _not_ coming after me if I ended up in the river?"

Jack turned to look at him again, a faint smile barely kept in check. "I believe my exact words were 'that if you fall, I'm not jumping in after you.'" He shrugged nonchalantly. "If I recall, you were _pushed_ and technically _I_ was the one who fell."

"Ah," Daniel said, as though he'd learned something new. "As long as we're clear on that."

Jack did smile at that and purposely ruffled Daniel’s still damp hair a bit just to annoy him.

Daniel was about to ask for a hand up when he caught sight of something that immediately banished some of the weariness he was battling against.

"Jack," he said grabbing onto his sleeve and then pointing just over Jack's left shoulder.

Jack followed Daniel's line of sight and smiled briefly. There was what appeared to be a narrow opening in the mountainside behind him. The area was mostly covered with vines and overgrowth, but if they were lucky, it would open into some kind of cave and the vegetation would provide enough natural cover to hide the entrance from any unfriendly search parties. He turned back to Daniel and lightly grasped his right shoulder, "Good man."

– – – – 

Teal'c listened carefully to the conversation between Captain Carter and Arren, the leader of the Tal'ist. He had been somewhat surprised by the compassion shown by the Tal'ist back at the ruins of what had once been their capitol city. Arren had insisted that time be taken to bury the dead from both sides of the battle, and had left behind five of his men to accomplish the task, knowing all the while that he was further depleting their number despite the fact that he and his men would be traveling deeper into enemy territory.

Arren had also instructed his men to release the surviving Galtain men at the border of their lands after stripping them of their weapons. This, Teal'c had difficulty understanding, considering that Arren _was_ aware that those men would more than likely return home, rearm, and hunt him down before trying to kill him again.

Arren had simply looked at him a long time when he'd pointed this fact out to him and had merely said, "It is not our way to kill our enemy simply because we can. If we were to kill them now, when they had no chance of defending themselves, we would be no better than the Goa'uld who once ruled these lands." After that, Teal’c had been uncertain how to respond and had simply chosen to remain silent.

Sam walked between Arren and Teal’c in silence. She was so distracted by thoughts of Daniel and the Colonel that she was barely even aware of where she was. Desperate to latch on to something else, she tried to focus on what was going on around her instead. She caught the tail end of a conversation between Arren and the man who’d been introduced to her as his "advisor", Sahn, about making an estimate of the number of "Jaffa weapons" the Galtain possessed. The idea reminded her of several details that were bothering her about this planet. She waited until Sahn turned and walked toward the back of the company before speaking.

"Arren," she began, surprised by how quickly he turned to her, "um…there are a couple of things about your people and this planet that I don't understand."

He smiled indulgently. "Ask then, and I will attempt to clarify them."

Sam nodded. "Ok. Let's start with why the Jaffa left this planet."

Arren’s mood brightened considerably, making it obvious that what he was about to tell her was something that he was very proud of, but his expression darkened briefly as he spoke. "In the days of my forefathers, the Jaffa ruled Tal in the name of a Goa'uld named Heru'ur."

He paused, as though waiting for a response. Sam nodded. "We've met."

"I had guessed so from your reaction," he replied.

_  
_

Really, Sam thought. She must be slipping if it was so easy for a man she'd only just met to read her so easily.

"So what changed," she asked.

"We do not know for certain why the false god chose to abandon our planet, but the stories suggest that it was because our lands could no longer provide the mineral the Jaffa forced my people to mine for them."

That explained why she’d found such heavy deposits of Naqadah near the Gate. If it served as some sort of central shipping area then there would be traces of the mineral all along the path the loads traveled. It also explained the large number of tunnels they’d found hacked into the side of that mountain. Sam turned to Teal'c, who still walked quietly at her side. "Would the Goa'uld so easily abandon a planet and its people that way?" 

Teal'c bowed his head slightly to her. "It is possible that if the mines could no longer provide an adequate amount of Naqadah and the planet was of no strategic value to him that Heru'ur would recall his Jaffa and leave these people to fend for themselves."

Still not entirely clear on the Goa'uld's motivations she asked, "But why would he just leave them here to live out their lives in peace? Wouldn't he attempt to take them through the Stargate to another planet to work there for him? Or at least wipe out the people who remained here?" She winced as soon as the words were out of her mouth, wishing she could recall them. She glanced at Arren in apology.

"You are correct," Arren confirmed. "The Jaffa _did_ raid our villages and took many of our people through the dark stone circle, the...Stargate as you call it. However, my people began to fight back and attack the Jaffa to protect their loved ones. After many days of this, the Jaffa simply gave up and slowly began to leave."

Confused, Sam glanced at Teal'c.

He thought carefully for a moment before answering. "Heru'ur suffered a great loss during battle with Apophis when I was still a young warrior. If what Arren speaks of occurred near that time, it is possible that Heru'ur was forced to withdraw his Jaffa in order to replenish his ranks."

"Ok," Sam said slowly, processing everything she'd been told so far. "That makes a little more sense." She turned back to the Tal'ist leader. "Arren, have your people ever seen the Jaffa since then?"

Arren shook his head rather forcefully. "None of my people have seen a Jaffa since those days." He paused. "Until your arrival, we knew of them only through the descriptions in the stories."

Thus the reason why they’d been so nervous and unsure of her and Teal'c in the beginning. "What about the Galtain?"

"For many years, the Tal'ist and the Galtain lived in peace as one people. Then, in the days of my father, Pehl, a small group of devout believers of the old ways challenged my father's right to rule. They wished my people to continue to live in a way that was very similar to how it was in the days of the false god’s rule and did not welcome the changes my father proposed. They feared that he was giving the people too much freedom that would, in time, lead to mass chaos."

He briefly glanced away, a distant look on his face as though he was reliving the memories in his mind. "My father disapproved of their eagerness to use the few weapons the Jaffa left behind when they abandoned this planet. He fought openly with them about these and many other issues for many years. So, it was after deciding words were getting him nowhere that Vika rallied together those who believed as he did and tried to force my father from his rightful position as Chieftain. Pehl accepted Vika’s challenge and, in accordance with our customs, fought him in hand-to-hand combat for the right to rule. My father was the victor, and the people loyal to him forced Vika and his followers to leave the capitol city."

He paused and shook his head sadly. "They have waged war on us ever since. Many have died and so much has been lost, including the capitol city itself." He met her gaze directly. "The ruins you saw are less than a mere _shadow_ of what once was. We spent the first _year_ of our regained freedom building Entalia. It was a symbol of the inner strength and determination that saw us through the days of our enslavement. Then, less than a year after this long war began, the Galtain laid siege against the city and drove us from its walls before burning it to the ground. To the Galtain, destroying that symbol was a way to prove the depth of their hatred for us. It was a message we clearly understood."

His voice softened. "It was during that battle that my father was killed." His eyes spoke volumes about how great Pehl’s loss was. He swallowed and cleared his throat, turning his head away from her as he composed himself.

Sam was at a loss for words. She couldn’t imagine losing her own father in such a way. The very thought of it sometimes kept her awake at night. "I’m sorry, Arren." It wasn’t much, but she truly meant it.

Arren nodded and gave a small smile in thanks. "My people mourned his loss for more than a fortnight and refused to engage in battle in his memory. But, in time, they were once again forced to fight to save their homes and their families. It was then that I was chosen to lead my people."

"You were chosen?"

"One of the many changes my father decreed before his death." He paused to choose his words carefully. "Our people have the right to not only choose their leader every ten years, but to also replace that person at any time if he or she is later deemed unworthy of their respect and loyalty."

He turned to look at her again. "Though the process is actually much more complicated than that, it is only important that you know that it is the way that my people are guaranteed that we are never again subjected to the rule of one person without any choice."

Sam smiled. "Actually, it sounds very similar to my own people's system of government."

Arren openly returned her smile and nodded in approval. "Then perhaps our people are not as different as we may have first imagined."

– – – – 

Jack settled Daniel near the back of the small cavern a short distance from the entrance, just beneath the column of pale light filtering in from a natural opening in the cavern ceiling above them. As Daniel leaned back to rest against the cold stone, Jack noticed the grimace of pain that flickered across his face before he attempted to hide it.

"I think it’s time we dealt with that arm," he said.

Daniel nodded. Although he wasn't really looking forward to the prognosis, he had a fairly good idea what it would be and what it would require to 'fix' it.

Jack carefully examined Daniel's arm, trying not to cause him any more pain than he was already in. He was relieved that he not only recognized the symptoms of the injuries from personal experience, but that he also knew how to correct them. However, that also meant that he was uniquely qualified to understand exactly how painful the next few minutes were going to get.

"Well, your shoulder is dislocated, both bones in your forearm are clearly broken, and there's some kind of joint damage to your elbow."

Daniel glanced down at his arm and grimaced at the swelling and the dark bruises. He was pretty sure the fact that his arm was beginning to go numb probably wasn't a good thing either. He took a deep breath and released it slowly. He'd suspected the arm was broken, but he'd never dislocated anything and wasn't looking forward to experiencing having it reduced. However, considering there weren't any bones poking through his skin and no blood anywhere, he guessed that things could easily have been worse.

"So what's first?"

Jack grimaced and tried to avoid meeting his eyes. He was guessing that since he still found no evidence of fever, the majority of the sweat on Daniel’s brow and the gray pallor of his skin were due to the considerable amount of pain he was in from the combination of his injuries, exhaustion from their brief yet seemingly endless struggle to survive the trip downriver, and the fact that knowing how Daniel liked to substitute whole meals for a cup of coffee, lack of food.

However, with no supplies other than whatever they had in their vests, which meant no pain medication stronger than aspirin, things were about to get really nasty. He considered making a few suggestions to the General when they got back about correcting some of those problems. Like, requiring all team members to carry a smaller, more compact, first aid kit in their vests. That way, in situations like this, they wouldn’t be faced with the kind of choices he was dealing with at the moment.

"Jack?"

At the sound of his name, Jack snapped himself out of the daze he'd fallen into and made a decision. Knowing how bad it was to leave any joint, much less a shoulder, in the condition Daniel's was in for long periods of time or risk permanent nerve damage, he decided it was best to start there. But first, he'd need a few things.

He stood and started to make his way around the cavern in search of several small but strong pieces of wood. "I've got to find something to splint your arm with once I set it", he explained as he realized Daniel was watching him. He found what he was looking for and returned to the back of the cave. He removed the water canteen that was, by some small miracle, still attached to his belt, removed a small foil package of extra strength aspirin from one of the many pockets on his vest, and handed both to Daniel. "You're going to need those."

Daniel nodded and smiled briefly in thanks as Jack pushed the tablets through the foil package and into his open hand. He swallowed four of them along with a long sip from the canteen and watched as Jack removed his jacket and began cutting the lining out of it with his knife. It wasn't long before he realized that Jack was cutting strips to bind his arm with and using the rest to fashion a sling.

"Good idea," he said.

Jack shrugged. "It happens."

Once everything was laid out, Jack helped Daniel move a few feet away from the wall and toward the light. Still trying to be very careful, he then helped Daniel remove his jacket and vest and rechecked his injuries to make sure his prognosis had been correct. Unfortunately, it was.

Daniel inhaled sharply as Jack moved his arm again. He was concentrating almost exclusively on every move Jack made and missed his question the first time he asked.

"What?"

"I asked how it is that you learned to swim so well, " Jack repeated. "I mean, youwere bornin Egypt, right?" He realized that in all the time he’d known Daniel, he'd only managed to pry a small number of stories out of him about his childhood. The archaeologist much preferred telling him about all the digs he’d go on later in his life during college, but Jack knew he carried those early memories with him wherever he went. "It's not exactly a water resort over there. Especially out on those digs."

"Oh." Daniel was instantly reminded of those wonderful first few years he'd spent with his parents as a child. He'd missed the country that seemed more like home to him than anywhere else ever had. He’d returned to Egypt many times during his graduate studies just to feel closer to the family he’d lost. Then, before he knew it, he’d met Catherine, solved the riddle of the Stargate, traveled to Abydos, met and lost Sha're, and had eventually returned to Earth. It had taken him a long time to allow himself to really become a part of SG-1 after so much loss.

As he considered how to answer the question though, he barely noticed what Jack was doing. "My mom was the kind of person who saw the wisdom in teaching me to swim regardless of how often I actually got the chance to do it. She used to say that if I was going to follow in her and my father's footsteps, I was going to have to learn to do a lot of different things for myself. Of course, I'm sure the fact that I actually fell into the Nile once when they took me along on a trip through Cairo out to a dig site, may have...Ah!"

Daniel took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut against the pain that shot through his arm and chest.

Jack winced as the echoes of Daniel's voice bounced back at them from the depths of the cavern before fading away. He chanced looking back at him and caught the accusatory look in his eyes. All too aware of the intense scrutiny he was under, he almost forgot to check the pulse in Daniel's wrist to insure there wasn't any kind of hidden circulatory injury that he'd missed.

"You fell into the Nile River?"

"Don't change the subject..."

"I'm not changing anything. You just said...

"You distracted me so I wouldn't realize what you were doing." Daniel was painfully aware of the petulant tone in his voice but couldn't help himself. He hadn't seen that one coming.

Jack shrugged, unconcerned. "It worked didn't it?"

Daniel carefully tested his shoulder and found that despite the fact that his forearm still throbbed painfully, the burning and grinding sensation in his shoulder had faded considerably, not at all like the pain he'd felt before. With Jack’s help, he carefully attempted to lift his arm and found that the joint, though very sore and still somewhat tender to the touch, allowed the movement for the first time since he'd woken up on the riverbank. He looked up again and nodded. "Yeah...it did."

Jack winced again as he grasped Daniel's arm and extended it to get a better look at it. It had already been nearly an hour since he'd broken it in the river, and Jack was pretty sure that waiting any longer would only make things worse.

"Look, I don't know any more tricks that'll work for this one."

"Are you sure it’s broken?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at that and simply looked at him.

"I mean, it’s not just fractured or…something…?" Daniel quickly amended.

Attempting to bear in mind that Daniel was probably only stalling in the futile hope of avoiding the inevitable, he indulged him and explained further.

"Look at your arm, Daniel." Jack patiently waited until Daniel glanced down at his arm, saw the heavy discoloration and the swelling, swallowed, and then nodded before he continued. "Well, that along with the strange tingling sensation in your hand and the throbbing pain in your forearm are pretty clear indications of a broken bone."

"Oh."

"Broken bones I know." He paused, wincing in sympathy. "Trust me on this, Daniel."

Daniel nodded, remembering how Jack had once admitted he'd had more than nine broken bones in his life. "I do, Jack."

Jack froze momentarily at the sincerity and conviction his friend had managed to convey in those few words. He glanced up briefly and realized that Daniel had meant for him to hear it. "Good," he said a little more light-hearted than he felt at the moment.

Taking a deep breath, Jack positioned his hands so that he could get a good grasp of Daniel's arm while protecting his shoulder from taking the brunt of the force as he pulled on the wrist to set the bones. He noticed Daniel's look of dread and said, "I really have to set this now, Daniel, or it'll only get worse. We don't have a lot of options here."

Daniel took a long steady breath, nodded that he was ready, or at least as ready as he could be, and braced himself.

Trying to be as quick as possible while still getting it right, Jack tightened his grip before setting the bones back into place and tried not to listen to the cry of pain his actions ripped from Daniel's tightly clenched jaw.

**  
**

Chapter 3

Jack piled the wood he'd collected on the floor of the cave near the small shaft of light filtering in through the ceiling of the cavern. He'd tried to collect wood that wouldn't produce smoke, as that would no doubt draw undue attention to their little hideaway. This was, however, all the more complicated by the fact they were on an alien planet, and he didn't really know for sure that just because it looked like a piece of oak wood on Earth that it would produce the same amount of smoke. However, given no other option, he took a chance. 

As the thought filtered through his mind, he glanced over at Daniel who was still lying unconscious less than two feet away from him. He still didn't know which was worse; hearing Daniel scream when he'd set the bones, undoubtedly jerking on his newly reduced shoulder despite Jack's best efforts, or knowing that he was the cause of it. Either way, he'd been surprised when Daniel had suffered through the rest of his very unprofessional attempts at immobilizing and binding his arm, and putting it into a sling, with little more than a few swear words in at least three different languages, the only one of which he'd recognized being Abydonian, and several failed but valiant attempts to suppress the groans and gasps of pain he was causing.

His surprise had quickly turned to concern when Daniel had promptly passed out just as he was finishing the knot on the sling. Apparently the archaeologist had finally reached his limit, and Jack had to admit he was impressed by the other man's determination. Jack knew from experience that injuries like Daniel's were no fun individually, much less when they were compounded together like that.

He’d also suspected that Daniel hadn't told him everything. He’d checked him over for any other injuries and wasn’t surprised to find that he'd managed to at least bruise, if not fracture, a rib or two as well. He'd taken advantage of the other man's unconscious state and tested the ribs, relieved when he didn't feel anything give under his careful prodding. Not wanting to deprive his friend his chance to sleep through some of the pain, he'd obligingly rolled both their jackets together and placed them under Daniel's head before venturing out for supplies for the night. Glancing behind him again, he smiled as he remembered that he had quite a surprise for the archaeologist when he awoke.

– – – – 

Arren, who had taken point a few hours before, stopped and turned to them.

"Night approaches. When darkness falls, it will become increasingly difficult to safely make our way through Galtain territory, but if you so desire, we can continue on."

Sam looked to Teal'c who nodded to her, indicating he would support whatever decision she made.

"It seems that no one knows this area better than you do, Arren. We'll go as far as you think is safe and then find shelter for the night. A few extra miles won't do us any good if it’s so dark we miss any sign of where the Colonel and Daniel may have left the river." Not that she was actually expecting to find any, considering how cautious the Colonel tended to be, but the risk was still too great all the same. Besides, they might get lucky.

Arren nodded. "I agree." He turned toward the horizon where the sun was almost entirely gone from view and said, "We will continue on until there is no daylight left. By then we should be close to a place where I believe we will be safe for the night."

– – – – 

Daniel dragged himself back from the place he'd temporarily escaped from the pain to, to be greeted by a dull throbbing sensation in his left arm. At first, he was disoriented and unable to form a coherent thought. After only a few moments, things began to sort themselves in his mind and he was able to focus enough to realize that he felt much better than he thought he should have. His mind felt a little fuzzy, but the pain in his arm was much more tolerable than he last remembered.

He forced his eyes to open slowly and squinted against the unexpected glare of firelight. That at least explained why he was so comfortably warm. He turned his head away from the still too bright light and opened his eyes again.

"Jack?"

Jack turned at the sound of his name and allowed himself to relax for the first time in nearly four hours. He'd begun to think that maybe he should awaken Daniel. The fact that he'd awakened on his own was a good sign.

"About time you woke up. I was beginning to think you were going to sleep through dinner." When Daniel started to try to move on his own, Jack quickly moved closer and helped him to sit up and lean against the cavern wall.

"Take it easy, Daniel. You're not exactly up to par just yet."

Daniel nodded. "I noticed."

"How are you feeling?"

Daniel hesitated, somewhat confused. He looked up again. "Actually...better than I should, I think."

"That would be the morphine I gave you kicking in."

"Morphine?"

Jack nodded and smiled before reaching behind him. "Just half a dose, but look what I found while gathering wood for our little bonfire here."

"My pack!" That explained where the morphine came from. Daniel wasted no time before opening his pack and removing the few remaining damp things lying near the bottom.

Jack quickly realized what he was searching for and turned to retrieve something sitting near the fire. He handed it to Daniel and almost laughed at his utterly surprised and thrilled expression. Jack simply shook his head, attempting to contain the grin that threatened to break free, and moved back to the fire to check on the MREs he was heating.

Daniel gently traced the intricate suede pattern on the front cover of his somewhat worse for wear but surprisingly dry field journal. He carefully opened it with his one good hand and discovered that it had somehow managed to avoid getting soaked entirely. The pages he'd already written on had gotten wet around the edges but were still legible. He realized that Jack must have removed it from his pack and set it near the fire to dry out.

"In the future, you might want to consider putting those things in waterproof bags when you bring them on missions."

"Thanks, Jack," Daniel said, setting the journal close beside him.

Jack merely shrugged and sat next to him against the cool stone of the cave wall before handing Daniel his bowl of beef stew. 

It was a well-known fact amongst the members of SG-1 that Daniel always took his field journals with him on the missions he thought he might make some new cultural discovery or other archeological related breakthrough. Thanks to that fateful mission to Oannes, it was also a well-known fact that some of those journals were where Daniel recorded his personal thoughts and feelings. And were, therefore, what he considered to be the most important thing he carried with him.

"Thank you."

Jack nodded. "You're welcome. Now eat."

Knowing better than to offer his assistance, Jack watched from the corner of his eye as Daniel nestled the bowl of stew in the folds of his jacket that he'd pulled onto his lap and carefully began to eat one handed. As Jack dug into his own stew, he waited expectantly for the questions he knew would eventually come. Sure enough, he'd just finished his stew when Daniel spoke up.

"Jack," Daniel began as his curiosity finally got the better of him, "there's a few things I'm not real clear on."

"Fire away," Jack said.

He reached over and took Daniel's bowl, which he'd laid next to him when he'd finished eating, and made his way back over to the fire. Normally, they'd just eat out of the MRE packages themselves or the little tin cups they brought for coffee, but SG-1 had managed to get away with bringing several small "luxury" items along with them, as did most of the other teams now. It didn't assuage the fact that he still hated washing the dishes, and washing them while on a mission just seemed to make it worse somehow. He usually got away with avoiding that particular chore while off-world, by making an effort to busy himself with some other task or taking the worst watch shift. Truthfully, he didn't think the others really minded the trade-off.

Daniel pulled his legs toward him and crossed them, trying to get more comfortable. "Ok," he began. "Well, there's that cut behind your ear I didn't notice before."

Jack unconsciously reached up to gingerly touch the small gash just behind his right ear. He hadn't been aware of it either at first, but after realizing that Daniel was hurt, he'd just ignored it until he'd had the time to do something about it. He'd cleaned it with antiseptic from the first-aid kit in Daniel's pack and had almost forgotten about it after that.

"I guess I hit my head when I fell into the river. I didn't even feel it really until I went for firewood and started to feel like I had a hangover."

Daniel mulled it over and started to fill in the gaps a bit. Jack’s injury certainly explained why he was unconscious when Daniel had woken up that first time near the river. Apparently they were a lot luckier than he'd first thought.

Jack finished what he was doing and glanced at Daniel. "I'm fine, Daniel. Stop worrying about me and concentrate on yourself. You look like you're going to fall over."

Daniel unconsciously straightened and grimaced as he unintentionally moved his left arm in the process. He was very grateful for the morphine in his system at that moment and knew he’d miss it when it was gone.

"So...what else?" Jack asked as he settled himself against the cavern wall again to Daniel’s right. That couldn't be all the questions he had. Daniel was one of those people who just always had to ask why. His natural curiosity usually got the better of him.

"Well I've pretty much pieced everything together, but...," a thought occurred to him and he trailed off, lost in thought.

Leave it to Daniel to ask only one question and suddenly have it all figured out. Jack didn't think he'd ever figure out how Daniel made those intuitive leaps in logic that helped him to be at least three steps ahead of most of the other people around him. Sometimes it made Jack feel like a twelve year old in comparison.

"How do you suppose my pack ended up all the way down here?"

"You're asking me?" Daniel glanced at him and lifted one eyebrow, a perfect imitation of Teal'c. "Maybe one of the bad guys knocked it off during their little scuffle with the...Tally-something."

"The what?"

"The people who attacked the other people who ambushed us."

"The Tal'ist...I think."

Jack shrugged. "Works for me."

"Well I suppose it could have been knocked off the ravine at some point during the struggle with the...did the natives that attacked us ever say what they call themselves?"

"Don't think so. But then I was kinda busy trying to stay alive." He was having a bit of trouble trying to follow Daniel's circuitous train of thought and unable to simply sit idly by, began stuffing everything back into the pack, making sure to put the med-kit on the top. They'd be moving on in the morning and he was pretty sure that Daniel wouldn't be feeling nearly as good as he was right now by then.

"Yeah." Daniel was trying not to think too much about the details of what happened. He was already feeling guilty enough about why the natives had attacked them. He didn't really want to dwell too much on what happened after that.

"Damn it, Daniel," Jack swore softly as he scrubbed his hand through his rapidly graying hair in frustration. He'd immediately recognized the guilty confused looked on Daniel's face. Once again, he was blaming himself for things he had no control over. "You can't blame yourself for what happened." 

Daniel shifted his gaze toward the fire, trying to avoid making direct eye contact. Jack sighed heavily and moved to sit across from him, forcing Daniel to meet his eyes.

"Look, you couldn't have known they'd react that way by greeting them in the same language they greeted us. It’s part of what you do, Daniel. It was apparently supposed to be a way to ferret out the enemy." Daniel was still trying to avoid his eyes, making it difficult for Jack to get through to him. "They obviously just didn't realize that they were dealing with a man who can speak more than twenty different languages."

Daniel smiled at that and briefly glanced at him.

"I guess."

Jack reached out and clasped him on the shoulder. "Let's get some sleep. We'll have to set out early in the morning if we're ever going to find Carter and Teal'c."

Daniel nodded and for once, allowed Jack to help him to lie down without an argument. As he adjusted his jacket beneath his head, he allowed sleep to come without resistance.

– – – – 

This time, when Arren stopped, Sam immediately realized something was wrong. Her apprehension was only heightened further when Teal'c merely looked at her, his expression confirming that something wasn't quite right. She tightened her grip on her gun and crouched low with the rest of the company.

She quickly counted their number and wasn't too certain she liked the odds of fifteen men, counting herself and Teal'c, against an army the size that Arren had been telling her about. She crept forward to speak with Arren and heard for the first time what he and Teal'c had sensed. It was a soft rustling noise that she wasn't even sure that with all of her training she would have even noticed had she not been listening specifically for it.

"How many?" She whispered the question so softly she barely made a sound, relying more on his ability to read her lips than to actually hear her words.

He shook his head and pointed in three directions: directly in front of them and to either side. At this point, they seemed to have only two options, stay and fight, or retreat and hope that there weren't more of them waiting there as well. Already knowing the last option wasn't one she was willing to take, she nodded when Arren glanced at her as though asking if she would fight.

Decision made, Arren motioned to his men to spread out, take cover as best as they could, and keep watch.

Realizing that her automatic weapon would make a lot of noise and possibly draw even more of the Galtain to their position, Sam instead pulled her sidearm and quickly screwed the silencer on the end. It was the best option she had and still left her open to use the other if necessary. She noticed Teal'c had realized the same thing about his staff weapon and was instead holding his zat gun.

Teal'c gently tapped Captain Carter’s shoulder to draw her attention and indicated a large tree just to their right that would provide a degree of protection on at least two sides. He waited for her to move ahead of him and silently followed her. Seconds after they’d ducked behind their meager cover, an arrow sliced through the trees they'd been traveling through and narrowly missed Sahn who was standing less than four feet from Sam.

After that, all hell broke loose and it became increasingly difficult to determine exactly what was going on. Sam made careful use of her bullets and insured she hit her target every time she pulled the trigger. Fully trusting in Teal'c's capability, she focused her aim on the six or so men coming at them from the left while Teal'c concentrated on the ones that were now behind them. Sam ducked back behind the tree just in time to avoid getting hit by a staff blast. Still wondering where the weapon had come from, she took careful aim and pulled the trigger. The man holding the staff weapon fell to his knees but fired at her again. She returned fire again and barely noticed whether or not her aim was accurate as a second group of men appeared from the north. Seconds after their arrival, Sahn froze and gasped in pain as the familiar blue sparks from a zat gun raced across his body. Before the last spark had faded, he collapsed. Sam turned to see that Teal'c too had noticed the new arrivals and their weapon of choice.

Before she really knew what was happening, someone shouted something she couldn't make out. It was quickly picked up by the other men and repeated several times over from all around her. As their voices faded, the forest grew deathly silent again.

Sam chanced looking back around the tree and realized why it had grown so quiet. Arren stood out in the open with the zat gun he'd obviously retrieved from the man lying at his feet, holding it at the head of another man pinned securely in his grasp. He slowly made his way further out into the open and stopped when it seemed he was where most of the men hiding in the shadows could see him.

"Listen to my words carefully," Arren began, tightening his hold on the man he held before him as a shield. "Drop your weapons and come into the clearing now."

Not entirely sure she understood exactly what was going on, but realizing this man was someone of importance to the Galtain, Sam held her breath in anticipation of the reaction Arren would receive. Several seconds passed before Arren spoke softly to the man he was holding. The stranger shook his head vehemently and Arren spoke to him again, somewhat more forcefully than before. This time, the man seemed to realize that whatever threat Arren had just made he was serious about it. He nodded.

"Do as he says," he commanded.

Again, several seconds passed before the remaining Galtain warriors stepped into the clearing and threw their weapons to the ground.

"Now, you will take your wounded and your dead and leave this place and your weapons behind."

One man stepped forward and addressed the man Arren held. "We will die before we abandon you."

Arren shook his head. "No more have to die here. If you leave us and do not threaten the lives of my people again, he will remain unharmed."

When no one moved, Arren again whispered something to his captive and waited patiently for his response. This time, he seemed less hostile toward Arren but did not relax his body in the slightest. "You must do as he says, Kel. It is the only way you and the others can return safely. He will not harm me."

The man Sam now knew as Kel, hesitated before at last nodding and with a curt bow of his head, turned back to the others and ordered them to gather the wounded and the dead. Within minutes, the Galtain had disappeared from sight again without ever looking back at the man they were forced to leave behind.

Slowly, the Tal'ist began making their way into the clearing, many with their weapons directed at Arren's prisoner. Arren glared at them and said, "There will be none of that. I will not break my word to Kel."

They reluctantly lowered their weapons and instead set about the task of helping the wounded. Surprisingly, they’d somehow managed not to lose a single man, though several were injured.

Sam stopped beside Arren. She watched as Sahn, who had regained consciousness during the standoff, tied the hands together of the man they now held as prisoner in front of him. Sam laid her hand on Arren's arm to get his attention and asked, "Who is this man?"

Arren took a deep breath. "He is Layin, the son of Vika." Layin turned to face him at that statement, his face devoid of any expression.

That certainly explained a lot of things. Their ‘prisoner’ was the son of the Galtain leader.

"He is my cousin," Arren added. 

"What?" Sam looked from one to the other and realized for the first time what had bothered her about Layin. If she hadn't been so focused on what was going on at the time, she might have noticed earlier how much they favored one another. The relation was now obvious.

"Will Kel not return immediately and inform Vika not only of the fact that you have taken his son prisoner but also of our current location?" Teal'c pointed out.

Arren nodded. "I suppose he will, considering that is precisely what Layin told him to do."

Layin merely looked at Arren, refusing to give anything away through his emotions.

Arren smiled. "It may have been several years since your father took you away from our city, Layin, but we knew each other well before then. It was not difficult to decipher the message you gave Kel."

Layin shrugged.

Arren's smile faded. "I was afraid that your father would attempt to turn you away from me in hopes that when he is gone, you will continue in his name." He shook his head and sighed. "I do not believe that you hate me near as much as he thinks you do."

At that, Layin responded with a short expletive in the language of the Tal'ist. Arren seemed mildly surprised but then smiled brightly at him.

"You may be able to convince yourself of that, but not me. Even now, you use the language of our forefathers almost without thought. You have not forgotten who you really are." 

Layin refused to meet Arren's eyes. Even in the dim light of the moon, it was obvious that he was struggling within himself. He seemed much more confused and much less confident than he had just moments before.

Arren turned from him then and began issuing orders to his men. They had a long night ahead of them if they were going to put enough distance between them and the clearing to insure that they were safe again.

**  
**

Chapter 4

Jack sat near the entrance to the cavern, quietly watching as the storm that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere ravaged the forest around the small cavern. The sky had just begun to grow light as the sun rose over the horizon when the first drops began to fall. At first, it had been a light drizzle that would in time grow irritating if they decided to travel through it, but wouldn't really impede their progress. Minutes after if began, however, the sky split open and emptied itself all at once as the intensity of the rainfall dramatically increased. Now, it was fairly obvious that they'd be forced to wait out the storm or risk any number of dangers, from flash floods to getting struck by lightning.

As though proving his point, the cavern was illuminated for a brief moment as lightning struck a tree less than fifty feet from Jack's vantage point.

The ensuing sound of the tree branch snapping off the trunk combined with the thunderclap that accompanied the impressive light show was temporarily deafening. Jack flinched, as another tree was struck a little further away. That was weird. He'd never seen a storm like this on Earth. It was just one more little reminder that they weren't actually _on_ Earth.

At the roar of the second thunderclap rolling across the sky, Daniel jerked upright and sat precariously as he waited for his mind to clear. He'd been startled awake by the first strike and before he could gain his bearings and figure out what was happening, the second had already hit. He leaned heavily on his right arm for support in order to stay upright and took several long even breaths, trying to slow his rapidly beating heart.

"Daniel?" 

Jack moved away from the entrance and back toward the small fire. He went around it to Daniel's right side and handed him the canteen he'd filled earlier with fresh rainwater.

Daniel gratefully accepted the water and took a swallow. "Thanks." He glanced up at the small opening in the cave above them and briefly wondered what prevented the rain from seeping into the cavern. As a third strike lit the interior of the cavern, he waited for the thunder to fade before saying, "Talk about a rude awakening."

Jack nodded and shrugged. "Looks like we won't be going anywhere for a while."

Daniel forced himself to sit up straighter and adjusted his sling. The throbbing in his arm had returned full force, but his shoulder, thankfully, didn't seem to be bothering him quite as much. He looked up as Jack handed him two more aspirin and quickly swallowed them with a little water. The aspirin wouldn’t be as effective as the morphine, but it also didn’t make him feel like he was trying to think through a cloud of fog either. If they were going to make any real progress toward finding Sam and Teal’c, he’d need to be as coherent as possible.

"So...how about some breakfast?" Jack asked as he moved toward the MREs he'd already started heating over the small fire.

"Sounds great."

While waiting for the food to finish, Daniel picked up his journal, and pushed himself backward to lean against the rock wall of the cavern. He removed a pen from one of the many pockets on his vest lying on the floor and opened the journal.

"You know, it’s your turn to cook next."

Daniel glanced up from his writing and noticed the barely concealed grin trying to break free across Jack's face.

"Sure," he said. "Would you like burned chicken, or burned macaroni and cheese that only tastes like chicken?"

The grin finally appeared and Jack laughed. "I see your point. You're dangerous enough near fire as it is. I'd hate to see what would happen if you tried to cook with only one arm."

Daniel laid his pen aside and shifted to sit up again.

"I'll have you know that it’s been said that I'm a pretty fair cook."

Jack raised one eyebrow. "By whom? Carter? She doesn't count, you know. She feels obligated to be nice."

Daniel cocked one eyebrow and laughed. "Point one for the grumpy cook," he said under his breath.

"I heard that."

With a hint of a smile, Daniel picked his pen up again and resumed his notes on the ruins they'd explored earlier.

The storm lasted another hour before abating enough that they felt it was safe to leave the cavern. They debated for a while whether or not to risk going out on the off chance the storm would return and catch them without cover. But when weighed against the facts that they were so far from the Gate and completely unarmed, they decided it was in their best interests to attempt to locate Sam and Teal'c as soon as possible.

They quickly returned the last few items to Daniel's pack, once more making sure to put the med-kit on the top. Jack insisted he be the one to carry it. Daniel only offered minimal resistance, knowing that he hadn't fully recovered his strength. He didn't want to slow Jack down any more than he already feared he would. It took several minutes for him to gingerly ease himself back into his jacket and vest, and caused the throb in his forearm to intensify for twice that amount of time, but he was much warmer and finally ready to leave.

Jack stepped out of the cave first and, after checking carefully for any signs of uninvited visitors, returned for Daniel. 

Within minutes after leaving the cave, Daniel's jacket clung to him like a second skin. The rain made traveling trickier as they had to step carefully to avoid slipping on the wet grass and dead leaves on the forest floor, but the trees that filled the forest around them, provided a small degree of protection from the rain.

Daniel pulled the brim of his hat down a little further, trying to prevent the rain from streaking his glasses and obscuring his vision. Sometimes his glasses annoyed the hell out of him and made him wonder why he bothered with them at all instead of just suffering through the discomfort of wearing contacts. His internal complaints about the rain were interrupted as Jack attempted to use his radio.

"Do you really think it'll still work after the swim we took in the river?" Daniel asked. They'd already tried his radio and decided that it was beyond hope when it failed to emit any sound at all, even static.

Jack shrugged. "I'm picking up something on the channel. It's worth a try."

Daniel nodded. Maybe they'd get lucky. As the saying goes…there’s a first time for everything.

– – – – 

Teal'c stood guard at the edge of the outcropping of rock they'd found shelter under from the storm. Although the sky had shown little warning, Arren had sensed the storm's arrival and immediately led them to this place. Teal'c glanced behind him and watched Captain Carter speak with Arren near the small fire they'd built. He continued on to look over the others in the company as well, noting how Arren's men had arranged their own guard and were rotating in shifts of two hours. Teal'c was surprised at their dedication and precision as Arren had yet to issue them any orders since leaving the clearing the night before.

They'd traveled for several hours after the fight in the clearing until late into the night. They'd only stopped to make camp once it became too dangerous to travel by the dim light of the moon. Not wanting to chance being spotted by potential enemy forces hiding in the forest around them, they'd decided not to use either their flashlights or torches. Even then, a guard had been established without orders and Teal'c's offer of assistance was quickly, though politely, refused as unnecessary. Unaccustomed to spending the night off-world without taking a turn at the night watch, he'd placed himself in a light state of kel'no'reem so that he could be aware of any danger. However, there had been no sign of Vika or his men.

Teal'c briefly glanced at Captain Carter again before turning back to keep watch through the rain.

Sam was aware of the fact that Teal'c seemed somewhat tense and made an effort to keep more alert while listening to Arren. The reinforcements that Arren had sent for had somehow managed to catch up to them, and she now counted twenty-five men total, including herself and Teal'c. She hoped that would be enough for whatever lay ahead.

She'd been trying to raise the Colonel or Daniel on the radio all morning and thought she'd actually gotten a signal earlier, but now she could only pick up static. Arren stood and excused himself to go speak with his men, giving Sam the opportunity to talk with Teal'c. She stopped beside him and glanced out through the rain, hoping that the Colonel and Daniel had managed to find shelter through the worst of the storm that morning.

"Has there been any further activity on the radio, Captain Carter?"

Teal'c's somber voice startled her from her worries. She glanced at him, shrugged, and sighed in frustration. "No. I've been trying all morning."

Teal'c nodded. "Perhaps once we begin moving again and shorten the distance between O'Neill, Daniel Jackson and ourselves, we will be able to get a clearer signal."

Sam nodded, skeptical because of the damage that must have been done to the others' radios when they fell into the river, but she wasn't prepared to give up on the possibility just yet. "I hope so."

Arren reappeared on Teal'c’s other side. 

"This storm will likely last for several more hours, as most do here. It is unlikely that it will reach the same ferocity as this morning and should therefore be little more than a nuisance throughout the day. Do you have any reservations against traveling through the rain?"

Teal'c, as always, was direct. "We do not."

Arren nodded. "My men and I are ready as soon as you are able."

Sam glanced at Teal'c again and received a nod in response. "Let's go."

– – – – 

Daniel glanced behind him for what seemed like the tenth time in the last two minutes, trying to figure out why he felt like he was being watched. Jack caught him doing it and snagged the corner of his sleeve to get his attention.

"You feel it too?"

Daniel nodded, wondering why Jack hadn't mentioned it before.

Jack quickly ran an inventory in his mind of the few possessions they retained that they could use for defense and decided he didn't like their odds. One knife between the two of them and a few clips without the guns that go with them wasn't nearly enough for him to even consider facing whoever had been following them for some time now.

Daniel heard a faint noise off to his left and barely restrained the urge to look in that direction. Instead, he whispered, "How many?"

Jack shrugged. It was hard to tell exactly without tipping off their uninvited guests that they were aware of their presence. Whoever it was, they were obviously very well trained. Jack wasn't even entirely sure he'd have noticed them if he....

"Jack?"

He nodded. He'd heard the noise coming from their right as well. It seemed their companions were no longer very concerned with remaining undetectable.

"We're surrounded," Daniel whispered. Well, on three sides at least. 

"Looks like," Jack agreed, still speaking softly.

Daniel made an effort not to appear as unsteady on his feet as he actually felt. He had a feeling things were about to get interesting very quickly and had no desire to provide an obvious target. 

"Why haven't they shown themselves yet?"

Jack shook his head. It was weird to say the least. They were obviously outnumbered and unable to put up much of a struggle, so why hadn't they attacked?

Daniel moved a little closer and asked, "So what do we do?"

Jack looked at him. "We head in the opposite direction and look for cover."

"We run away?"

Jack shrugged. "I like to think of it more like making a strategic withdrawal against unknown enemy forces."

Daniel raised one eyebrow and looked at him askance. "Well, that sounds _much_ better."

Jack cocked his head to the side at the obvious note of sarcasm and smiled. "You up for a little sprint?"

Having no other option, Daniel nodded, setting his jaw in determination and bracing his left arm tighter against his body with his right hand, hoping the ties binding his arm to his chest would reduce the probability of it jarring against him.

Jack nodded once, reached over and briefly clasped his arm, before both set off at a dead run. There were several seconds filled with only the sounds of their boots scattering the dead leaves on the forest floor as they ran, as though their unwanted shadows hesitated before following them. However, the quiet was quickly shattered when their pursuers gave up any pretense of stealth and the forest around them erupted with the sounds of a large group of men moving at a very fast pace.

They hadn't gone very far when Daniel caught a glimpse of something darting in between the trees just off to his right. Damn, they were fast.

Jack skidded to a halt abruptly as they broke through the trees and came face to face with the edge of the ravine again. Apparently they'd reached the second place where the water split in two separate directions. They'd already passed the first bend over an hour ago and he'd forgotten this one was so close. Unfortunately, the edge curved so sharply to their right, it formed an almost perfect 90-degree angle, which effectively cut off any chance for escape in all but one direction. 

"Damn it!" Jack spun back around in time to catch Daniel's irritated frown and the appearance of their shadows.

A tall, broad shouldered man stepped forward from the others and pointed a staff weapon at them. "Lay down your weapons."

When they made no move to obey his command, the man opened fire and scattered several shots from the staff in the dirt and the air around them, narrowly missing Jack by mere inches.

"Alright!" Jack held up his hands and slowly removed Daniel's pack from the clips on his vest, tossing it and the knife from his belt onto the ground. Neither he nor Daniel volunteered any information regarding what few remaining supplies they were hiding in their vests, but the man standing before them either didn't notice anything amiss, or simply didn't care. He barked out orders to his men and they slowly moved toward them, still aiming their weapons directly at the two of them.

**  
**

Chapter 5

Sam had been listening to Arren speak softly to Layin for hours now as they walked, continuing the same conversation they'd been having since the night before. At first she'd been unsure whether or not she should be listening to them, but when Arren continually glanced in her direction and spoke somewhat louder than was absolutely necessary, it started to feel like he wanted her to hear him, as though listening to his words would somehow help her to understand the problems his people were facing. However, for the last half hour, Layin had refused to say anything at all in response to his impassioned speech.

Arren said something to him in the language he'd spoken before and Layin finally looked at him.

"What do you _expect_ of me? I am but _one_ man."

"Yes, but you have earned the loyalty of all your people." Arren smiled at Layin's confused look. "Vika believes that you are of the same mind as he. He also believes that all of your people share his beliefs."

Layin nodded. "He is right."

Arren shook his head. "No. As time passes, I have seen how more and more of your people hesitate to fight when they encounter my men and me in battle. Though many of them truly believed Vika's ways were right those many years ago when he left our city, I do not believe that they still feel this way after the changes that my father brought to the Tal'ist before his death. They see now the wisdom of those changes and the increase in the happiness and prosperity of our people. They also see that the fear Vika attempted to instill in them of those changes was largely unfounded and unnecessary. Instead, they realize that it is possible to change our ways and still retain who we are."

Layin appeared to consider the idea carefully. "Many of them were just as frightened to allow Pehl to change our ways as they were that those who served the false god would one day return. To them, giving the people more freedom would weaken the power of the chieftain and he would be unable to retain control. After so many generations of living under the rule of the false god, they grew accustomed to that strong sense of leadership and control. That is all they knew, and all they could accept."

Arren smiled again, making Sam realize how much that was part of his easy-going nature.

"Even you speak of your people's beliefs in the past tense. Whether you realize it or not, I believe that if you _offered_ them the chance to live as our people do, they _would_ accept." He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "And _I_ believe they would follow _you_."

Layin shook his head. "Our people have lived apart for more than a generation now. Few of us even _speak_ the old language still. I do not believe that we would be able to live together again as one."

Arren turned to him and removed the knife from his belt. Layin appeared apprehensive of what he would do and quickly took a step back from him, causing Arren's expression to darken into one of sad resignation.

Sam winced as it became obvious how Layin's concern that Arren might harm him in some way, had actually hurt the Tal'ist leader.

With a quick jerk of the knife, Arren sliced through a section of the rope and pulled the now loose strands off Layin's wrists, setting him free. He clasped Layin’s shoulder and looked him directly in the eye.

"Our people could _learn_ to trust one another again, if you would only show them the way. I have faith in both them and you. Once they remember that they are not only fighting their own people, but that many are also fighting their _family_ , their _blood_ , that they could then find that faith to trust once again." He dropped his hand back to his side. "If not, in time, there will not be enough of either the Tal'ist or the Galtain for it to matter any longer, as we will have destroyed one another."

With that, Arren turned back around and walked away, clearly giving Layin the chance to disappear into the forest around them. Sam tried to respect Arren's decision and followed him without glancing behind her.

– – – – 

Jack paid careful attention to their surroundings as their new friends marched them along the ravine's edge at a clipped pace. Even though he realized that they were outnumbered six to one, and one of them was injured, he couldn't help constantly thinking of ways to escape. As it was, he'd already considered and rejected about a dozen different ideas and wasn't too hopeful of being able to come up with others that had any greater merit than the previous ones. At the moment, he was hoping that Carter and Teal'c's amazing sense of timing would kick in again, and that they would appear any time now. He was also making a huge effort to ignore the headache throbbing at his temples.

Daniel glanced at Jack and winced when he saw the slight swelling around the fresh cut across his eyebrow. Apparently the leader of their new companions, a man who was later identified as Belan, had disliked whatever look Jack had given him when he ordered his men to tie Jack's hands in front of him. His response had nearly knocked Jack unconscious when he viciously hit him in the face with the staff weapon he carried. Daniel had been surprised to say the least at Belan's cruel smile as he walked away without ever saying a word, though Daniel had been careful to allow none of his thoughts to actually show on his face.

The only piece of information he'd been able to get from their captors before being ordered to remain quiet, had been their name. Even that had cost him a rough shove forward that had almost resulted in him landing face first in the dirt had he not barely managed to regain his footing at the last second.

Apparently the native people on this planet referred to themselves as the Galtain. The only positive thing to occur since their capture, was that for whatever reason the Galtain had obviously determined that he was 'non-threatening' and was therefore neither bound nor attacked in any way. He wasn't entirely reassured by this.

He'd managed to retain hope that they'd still be able to get out of this somehow, but after his latest attempt at talking was met with a curt threat of a raised and charged staff weapon pointed directly at his chest, he'd quickly decided against that option. Now they were making their way rather quickly wherever Belan and his men had decided to take them. The only good thing Daniel had seen so far out of this was that they were at least headed in the same direction he and Jack had already been traveling, toward the Stargate and the rest of SG-1. He was hoping, however, that Belan was not aware of that fact.

"Belan."

Daniel glanced behind him as one of the Galtain addressed their leader. Trying not to appear obvious, he attempted to listen in, curious.

"We are approaching camp."

_  
_

Camp? Are there more of them? Daniel glanced at Jack to see that he was obviously thinking the same thing.

"Good, we will rest there and turn them over to Vika. He will no doubt wish to deal with them himself."

Belan's last words piqued Jack's interest and stirred within him a deep feeling of dread. Whoever Vika was, Jack was pretty sure he wasn't going to like him. He caught Daniel's eye and nodded to him.

_  
_

Don't worry, he tried to convey to him, without actually speaking. 

Daniel cocked one eyebrow. _Oh sure_.

Jack glanced down toward the patch clearly visible on his sleeve with their team designation on it, drawing Daniel's attention to it. _They're coming_.

Daniel nodded. _I know_. He looked at the sun and then back at Jack. _When?_ He nodded toward the men surrounding them and moved four fingers on his right hand. _Four against twelve?_

Jack sighed. _I know, I know_. He didn't like their odds any better than Daniel did and he was guessing there was probably even more men back at the 'camp' they were headed toward.

Daniel moved the fingers of his right hand again and formed an L, looking behind them at Belan. _Their Leader?_

Jack shrugged, then formed a V with his bound hands. _Vika_.

Daniel nodded. He'd forgotten about the mention of the other man. If they were headed _toward_ the Galtain leader, then they could potentially be in a _lot_ more trouble than they'd first thought. Jack cleared his throat and Daniel glanced at him, following the movement of the other man's eyes forward to see the first signs of the camp just ahead of them.

– – – – 

Sam watched Arren closely as they walked side by side, looking for any signs of concern now that it had become apparent that Layin had disappeared. She'd tried not to doubt his decision in releasing his cousin, but as they walked deeper into enemy land, she couldn't prevent herself from doing it. She was acutely aware of the fact that they were, according to the Tal'ist, nearly in the heart of Galtain territory and no longer had any means of protection against attack. They were open targets without Layin which made her more cautious but no less determined to find the missing members of her team.

"He is still close by, Carter," Arren declared, as though he could read her thoughts.

Sam turned to look at him. "How can you be sure?"

Arren shrugged. "I know his nature. Even if he is not convinced that our people can live side by side once again, he will not abandon us here to return to the Galtain. He will not risk the possibility that we might be attacked and harmed or killed."

She turned toward him again, surprised by his confidence.

"He is a good man, Carter. He cares for me and my people as though he were still one of us."

She raised both eyebrows in surprise. "He attacked you and your men."

Arren shook his head. "Vika no doubt ordered him to attack us. Though Layin carried a bow, he did not fire one arrow. His quiver was full when I captured him."

She shook her head, wondering how Arren had managed to convince himself of Layin's intentions on so little evidence.

"I have faith in him, just as you do in your friends. There is little difference."

She wasn't entirely sure she agreed with that, but didn't refute his claim. He shrugged and sped up his pace, until he was once again walking beside Sahn at the front of the group.

Without any other distractions, Sam’s thoughts once again turned toward the others. Not for the first time, she found herself battling feelings of self-doubt as she wondered whether or not they should have returned to the Gate and contacted the General for reinforcements. She was afraid that when the Tal'ist had first offered them their help in finding the Colonel and Daniel, she'd allowed her concern for their safety and her desire to find them to overpower her better judgment. If they weren't able to reach the others in time, she knew she'd have no one to blame but herself for any harm that might have come to them.

"Captain Carter."

She started at the sound of Teal'c's voice from beside her. Where'd he come from?

"Something troubles you."

Not even trying to deny it when she knew Teal'c would be able to see through any deception on her part, Sam nodded. "Yeah, Teal'c, something does."

Though he turned his head and watched her more closely, Teal'c refrained from responding, sensing she would continue when she was ready.

Sam drew a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Do you think we did the right thing by not going back to the Stargate for reinforcements?"

"You doubt this decision, fearing you allowed your emotions to cloud your judgment." It was a statement, not a question.

She nodded reluctantly, somewhat surprised at how well he'd understood what had been plaguing her. "I can't help it, Teal'c. I keep wondering if we'd be better off now if we'd returned to the Gate before heading straight into the middle of this. I mean, what if we find the Colonel and Daniel only to realize that the Galtain have already captured them? How will we free them with so few men?"

Teal'c cocked one eyebrow and carefully selected his words, sensing the impact they would have on his friend if he did not choose wisely.

"Captain Carter, have you considered the fact that you were not alone in making that decision?"

Sam glanced at him, confused as to where this was going. "Uh..."

He decided to spare her having to try to answer. "When you stated your intentions, I agreed with you and followed you without hesitation." He paused to give her time to realize what he was saying. "Had I felt it was not the best course of action, I would have told you so and suggested then an alternate option. It was my belief then that leaving immediately was the best course of action in order to find O'Neill and Daniel Jackson ‘as quickly as possible’," he said, deliberately using a Tau'ri phrase. "My resolution has not changed."

Sam attempted to smile in gratitude. "Thanks, Teal'c." She briefly laid her hand on his arm before increasing her pace a little to catch up with the others, wondering how she'd managed to fall so far behind. Teal'c never wavered from her side. "I just can't help but think about it, you know?"

Teal'c nodded in understanding. He’d often seen many members of the Tau’ri question major decisions they had made during times of stress. O'Neill was prone to do the same thing. That realization helped him to recall a conversation he'd once had with their team leader and decided to share it with her.

"O'Neill once said to me, 'Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. You just have to ignore the fact that in most situations you will only be able to see _all_ the angles only _after_ you have set out in one direction. What is important is that you do not lose focus on the here and now'."

Sam paused mid-stride, surprised by this statement. It was times like this when she wondered if Teal'c only misquoted common 'Earth phrases' because it was his way of offering the team a bit of levity like the Colonel often did. 

"I believe we should attempt to heed his words now."

She smiled genuinely that time and nodded, feeling some of her confidence returning. "I think you're right, Teal'c." She placed her hand on his arm again and squeezed it. "Thank you."

He nodded deeply to her. "You are welcome, Captain Carter."

– – – – 

The Galtain camp was set in a small clearing relatively close to the edge of the ravine they'd traveled parallel to most of the day. There were small one or two man tents scattered around with little to no regard for order or defensibility, giving the whole place a definite temporary feel. Obviously, the Galtain trusted no one and moved frequently to avoid being found by their enemy.

Daniel watched the men around them as they entered the small camp and realized there were very few women and no children here. He was still trying to form a theory in his mind as to just how similarly the Galtain lived to the ancient Celts of Earth when his train of thought was interrupted by the appearance of a man from the trees nearby. He wore the same type of clothing as the other Galtain, but had obviously been hunting recently, his clothing smeared with blood in some places, his bounty in the arms of a young man walking beside him.

Jack unconsciously took a step closer to Daniel as a man a few inches taller than he was, bearing the air of a man of importance and confidence, approached them. He had broad shoulders, pale blue eyes, graying hair that nearly touched his elbows, and a deep scowl across his face. He carried a great bow in one hand with a quiver full of arrows strapped across his back, and a zat gun looped to his belt. His appearance did nothing to dissuade Jack of his earlier conviction that he would not like the man.

Belan stepped forward and bowed his head to the new man. "Chief Vika, I found no trace of Layin or his men during my scout, but I did..."

Vika raised one hand and cut him off mid-sentence. He handed his bow and quiver to the boy standing beside him before speaking. "Kel returned early this morning with news. It seems my son's carelessness has once again put our people at risk."

Confused, Daniel glanced at Jack, who shook his head and shrugged. He couldn't make any sense out of what the two men were discussing either.

Belan scowled. "Arren?"

The chief nodded curtly. "He has taken Layin hostage in exchange for safe passage through our lands."

Belan shook his head. "Why would he dare leave the safety of his mountains? He has hidden his people away there for over ten years and refused to face us. Why would he challenge us now?"

Vika laughed derisively. "Look around you Belan. We are less than twenty-four able-bodied men now thanks to Dian's recent defeat at the city ruins, Layin's careless attack last night, and the sickness that plagued us less than a fortnight ago. I have sent word to the village for more men to come, but could only spare two for the journey. If the Tal’ist were to intercept them before they reach the others, Arren may very well discover just how much of an advantage he has at the moment. Why _wouldn't_ he take the opportunity to strike now? What is there to prevent him from doing so?"

Vika turned abruptly and motioned for them to follow as he led them to the other end of the camp, away from the smaller tents and toward a larger one set apart from them. He stopped next to it and spun back around to face them. He looked carefully at his men and finally seemed to notice Jack and Daniel for the first time.

"Who are these men?"

Belan's expression brightened as he stepped forward. "I believe these are the strangers who attacked Dian and his men."

Jack, silent up to this point, stepped forward. "Whoa, I think you need to check your information there." He gestured to himself and Daniel. " _We_ didn't attack anyone. We were..."

He trailed off when Vika narrowed his eyes and immediately approached them, stepping directly into Jack's personal space, finally stopping when they were almost toe to toe.

"These are the men?"

Belan nodded. "They fit the description given by the only two survivors to return thus far."

"I was told they were killed by the ravine."

Belan shook his head. "We found them near the river. They must have survived the fall after all."

Vika slowly scanned Jack from head to toe before meeting his gaze directly again. Jack had a strong urge to take a step back to escape the unpleasant odor from the man's blood stained hunting clothes, but knew it would only give the other man the impression that he was afraid of him; and that was the last thing they needed at the moment.

The chieftain sneered at him and then spoke in the same language the man they now knew as Dian had. The only word Jack recognized was Tal'ist.

"We aren't _spies_ ," Daniel vehemently denied, in response to the chieftain's snide comment. He'd instinctively translated the man's words and then responded without thought. He saw Jack's back stiffen and immediately realized his mistake. Once again, he'd allowed his mouth to speak before his brain had the chance to catch up.

Vika's head swiveled in his direction and he stepped away from Jack. Daniel swallowed reflexively as the man slowly stalked toward him and stopped less than a foot away.

"Yet you know their language."

Daniel opened his mouth to respond but Jack beat him to it.

"He knows many languages. It's what he does."

The Galtain leader obviously didn't believe him as he scowled at Daniel and stepped toward him. Jack made a move back toward Daniel's side, but was grabbed by two of Belan's men. He struggled against their grip but to no avail.

Every instinct in Daniel went off with a vengeance as the other man approached, but he stood his ground, having little choice but to do so.

Vika stopped directly in front of him and spoke in a deceptively calm voice. "I believe you are lying." He reached out and twisted both hands into the fabric of Daniel's jacket and jerked him forward, the action jostling Daniel's injured arm and causing him to grimace. "You _are_ spies, sent here to determine the strength of our forces."

Daniel instinctively pulled his head back and grasped one of the other man's arms with his right hand. It was becoming apparent that the leader of this small band of men was extremely paranoid. Trying to choose his words carefully, Daniel hesitated before responding.

Vika apparently interpreted this to mean that he'd given up the pretense of denying the accusation and whirled around, dragging Daniel with him as he crossed the short distance to a small tree nearby and roughly tossed him onto the ground in front of it.

Daniel hit hard, nearly knocking the breath from him. Though he landed on his right side, he couldn't prevent his already injured arm from moving and slipping partially loose from the sling, causing pain to resurface in his shoulder and putting pressure on the very sensitive nerves surrounding the broken bones in his forearm. He struggled not to cry out at the pain it sent reverberating through the whole upper left side of his body, and took a deep breath. Seeing Vika in the corner of his vision, he attempted to push himself up into a sitting position.

"Hey!" Jack was furious. Daniel was already injured and now Vika was tossing him around like a sack of potatoes. " _We're not spies_ , for cryin' out loud." Vika spun around to face him and he continued. "We're _explorers_ from another planet. We came through the Stargate to..."

"Lies!" Vika shouted, turning an unflattering shade of red in his anger. He pointed at Jack. "My men saw you come through the great stone circle. You came with a Jaffa and allied yourselves with the Tal'ist, the traitors who will one day bring the evil back to our world with their ungodly ways and then you attacked my men."

Jack didn't know what to say. How had this man gotten such choppy, convoluted information? Everything he said was only being twisted around and used to further the man's paranoia.

Vika whirled back around, picked Daniel up off the ground and shoved him against the tree behind him. Daniel winced when his head slammed against the rough bark behind him. He resisted the urge to rub the sore spot as he continued Jack's attempt to reason with the man.

"Why would we form an alliance with the Tal'ist? What purpose would we have to do that? How would we even _know_ how to find them?" The questions came tumbling out of him between short gasps for air, the pain causing his breathing to become irregular.

Vika released his grip and took a step back. He turned to face Jack then. "I will hear no more of this. You will tell me all that you know of their forces and then you will tell me why they are coming here or I will kill you both." He withdrew the zat gun from his belt and aimed it at Daniel.

Jack struggled against the vice-like grip around his arms in a desperate attempt to lend some kind of aid. "Stop, " he demanded, worried about the effect a zat might have when coupled with Daniel's other injuries. Forcing his emotions back behind the facade of cooperation, he tried to keep his voice steady and calm.

" _Listen_ to me. We don't even know who the Tal'ist _are_ , much less any strategic information that might help you against them. Your men attacked _us_ at the ruins and tried to..."

Vika narrowed his eyes and scowled at Jack before shooting Daniel without a glance or a word.

**  
**

Chapter 6

Teal’c noticed immediately when the steady rainfall that had plagued them for nearly twelve standard Earth hours had finally abated. Though it meant their clothing would at last have the chance to dry, what had already fallen unfortunately left the foliage beneath their feet soft enough to help mask any sounds the Galtain might make. Having to rely more heavily on his sight alone, Teal'c was scanning his surroundings, looking for any sign of danger when Arren turned and waited for him and Captain Carter to reach him before resuming his pace, now beside the Captain.

"Sahn has reminded me that the first bridge crossing the ravine is only a short distance ahead. Do you wish to cross there in the event that your friends are on that side of the river, which I feel is most likely, or do you wish to wait and cross at the next bridge some distance further downriver?"

Sam glanced at Teal'c for his opinion. She’d already made up her mind but wanted to be sure they agreed on it.

"I believe we should take the opportunity to cross now when it is offered," Teal'c stated.

Sam gave him a half smile. "My thoughts exactly." She turned to Arren. "We'll cross at the first bridge."

Arren nodded. "Very well. I will tell my men." He started to walk away and then turned back to them. "We will find them soon, Captain Carter, Teal'c, and when we do, I will tell them of your unwavering bravery and dedication. They should know what an honor it is to call people such as yourselves friend." With that, he turned and hurried away to speak to Sahn again.

Stunned, Sam glanced at Teal'c to see a hint of the same feeling on his face. "Well," she said, unable to think of anything else in response.

– – – – 

Daniel was still lying on the ground gasping for breath, eyes tightly squeezed shut, when a man entered the clearing, yelling for Vika. The Galtain leader turned to him and ordered his men to guard the 'spies' while he went to deal with the commotion.

Jack jerked his arms out of the now slack grasp of the two men who had been holding him and went to kneel at his friend's side. Though his hands were still bound, he tentatively laid them on Daniel's shoulder and gently shook him, trying to get a response out of him.

"Daniel?" he spoke softly, fully aware of the pain the archaeologist must be in.

Without opening his eyes, Daniel asked, "Is he _gone_?"

Jack smiled in relief at the irritated tone of Daniel's voice. "Yeah, just you, me, and our own personal guard."

Daniel nodded and opened his eyes, realizing he was now lying on his back. "Good. I was afraid for a second there that I might not be able to contain the urge to _deck_ the bastard if he threatened to shoot _either_ of us again."

Jack slowly shook his head in mild surprise. Apparently the chieftain had finally managed to tick the usually mild-mannered man off, and Jack knew from personal experience that that was _not_ a good position for the native to be in.

"Can you sit up?"

Daniel blinked a few times and seriously considered the question. The nerves throughout his body were a lot more sensitive and raw than they normally were, just like usual after a zat blast, but the tremors it had caused had helped further aggravate the damage to his ribs, which now burned like someone had pressed a hot poker against his skin. Add that to the constant ache in his shoulder and forearm the morphine wasn’t dulling any more, and he was pretty much feeling like crap right about then. Nonetheless...

"Yeah, maybe...with a little help."

Jack pulled on Daniel's right arm, wishing he had his hands free so he could help brace his left side as well, as he helped him maneuver himself into a sitting position. When Daniel was upright, Jack helped him to lean back against the tree behind him and relaxed a little. Daniel opened his eyes and looked at him.

"I _hate_ those things."

Jack nodded. "Who doesn't?" He looked toward Vika and the man who'd come into the clearing, trying to figure out what was happening as Vika began issuing orders to his men. He turned back when Daniel continued to speak.

"You know, it wouldn't be nearly so bad if you knew ahead of time what was coming when they shoot you with one of those things."

Jack quirked one eyebrow at that and Daniel shrugged.

"I'm serious. I mean you never really know what's gonna happen. Sometimes it knocks you out right away, sometimes it hurts like hell and then knocks you out, and other times it just hurts like hell and you lay there _wishing_ it had knocked you out."

Jack shook his head, the things they talked about when their lives were in danger. He grinned. "Yeah, what's with that anyway? Can't they just set the darn things on stun and leave it at that?"

Daniel laughed, wondering if Teal'c had somehow convinced Jack to watch reruns of old 'Star Trek' episodes again. 

"What do you think is going on over there in Gala?"

Wondering where Jack had come up with that nickname for their captors, Daniel shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe that man Arren, Belan mentioned, has finally found them." 

Jack nodded and continued to look around them, still trying to determine what was happening. "That's what I was thinking."

Daniel readjusted the makeshift sling his arm was lying in and tried to ignore the pain it caused. When he was a little more certain his arm wouldn't slip out of it, he glanced back at Jack again and noticed the other man's hands were still tied. He studied the guards standing around them and noted that they were facing away from him and Jack and toward all the movement going on around them. Taking the opportunity, Daniel laid a hand on Jack's shoulder to get his attention. When Jack turned to look at him questioningly, Daniel grabbed his hands and pulled them toward him to study the way they were tied more closely.

Jack watched as Daniel ran his hand around the rope, trying to follow its pattern and looking for one of the ends. He finally found a knot underneath that seemed to fit the criteria and began pulling on one end. After only a moment or two of effort, a small piece came free and Daniel worked with it until he had a good section undone. When he froze and took both of Jack's hands in his right hand before tightly clasping one, Jack raised one eyebrow and cocked his head in confusion. Daniel said a few words in what sounded like Abydonian and then released his hands, the end of the rope now securely tucked into Jack's hand and out of sight.

Daniel leaned forward and spoke softly. "Sorry about that. One of the guards caught me undoing the rope and seemed ready to draw the wrong kind of attention to us."

Jack nodded, that explained the rope now hiding in his palm. He waited patiently for Daniel to continue. "And?" Well, maybe not patiently.

"The ancient Celts of Earth were a very superstitious people. I figured that if the guard saw what I was doing and then heard me speak in a language he didn't know, he'd just assume that I was performing some kind of ritual to protect us from harm and he'd leave us alone without asking questions." Daniel shrugged. "I think that's kind of what some of the men in the camp are doing now."

Jack turned to look behind him to see that most of the men were pairing off and saying what looked like prayers for each other before drinking from small bottles they kept at their belts. He turned back to look at Daniel and raised both eyebrows, amazed once again at just how much the other man actually knew about things that happened long before he was born.

"I guess all those anthropological facts floating around in there come in handy every now and then, huh."

Daniel smiled. "Occasionally."

Vika reappeared then. "Arren has followed you here and is preparing to attack. You will _die_ for leading him here."

Thoroughly confused, Jack tried to butt in, but Vika raised a hand and cut him off. "Bring them," he said to his men. "We will use them to bargain for Layin and then destroy the remaining Tal'ist once and for all." The men around them cheered in readiness and jostled Jack and Daniel to their feet.

Daniel leaned over to Jack and quietly asked, "He does remember that his men captured us and then dragged us here against our will, right?"

Jack shook his head. "Don’t ask me. "

Daniel grimaced. "I don't think he's even sane anymore."

Jack shrugged and then purposely responded in a tone dripping with sarcasm, "Wonder what gave you that idea?" 

**  
**

Chapter 7

Sam was completely unprepared for the sight that greeted them when they broke through the trees and finally spotted the bridge. Calmly waiting on the other side of the ravine was a large group of about twenty men with arrows drawn and pointed at them. Having been clearly caught unawares, Arren, Sahn, and several of his men were standing in front of her and the others with their own arrows drawn.

_  
_

This can’t be good. Sam raised her own weapon and waited to see what would happen next.

Arren took a step toward the bridge, keeping a little over five feet between him and it, and nearly another hundred or so from the men on the other side of the ravine, he raised his voice and spoke loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Vika, come out and speak with me. I do not wish to fight you or your men today."

A tall, graying man stepped forward from the others and gestured behind him at his men. "We are not afraid to face you, Arren. We will fight until the last of us falls."

Arren sighed softly and shook his head. "We do not _wish_ to fight. We are only interested in locating two men that unknowingly entered your territory."

Vika sneered at them and spoke to the man Arren called Kel, who was standing next to him. Kel turned and entered the crowd of men who quickly parted before him as he made his way to the back of the group.

~~~~~~

Jack pulled his arm free from the loose grasp of the guard he'd been assigned and moved to stand next to Daniel, who had somehow remained un-accosted thus far. Still pulling on the loosened ends of the rope, he made steady progress toward untying himself entirely, encouraged by the murmurs amongst the men around them about the other green-clad spies with the man called Arren. He could only hear faint sounds in the distance of Vika and Arren negotiating; he leaned toward Daniel and spoke quietly.

"So... extra pepperoni or mushrooms?"

Daniel glanced at Jack in utter confusion, both eyebrows raised. "What?"

Jack shrugged. "Tomorrow's Friday. Friday is pizza night and it's your turn to decide the toppings." When Daniel merely stared at him agape, he continued. "Even though I know this mission won’t exactly find its way onto your list of top ten favorite missions so far, I can't stand the idea of eating a pizza with any of those bizarre combinations you usually order, so I'm restricting your choices this time to pepperoni and mushrooms."

Daniel gave him a half smile and nearly laughed. Sometimes he didn't think he'd ever figure out how Jack's mind worked. Deciding to play along, he pretended to be offended.

"Bizarre combinations? Olives and green bell peppers are great on a pizza."

"On a _normal_ supreme pizza, yes, but when you add things like pineapple..." Jack shuddered.

Daniel turned to face him fully. "That was only one time and you agreed to try it."

Jack shook his head emphatically. "No, I agreed to try 'something different'. You ordered it while I was in the kitchen and failed to tell me you were going to put _fruit_ on my pizza. Had you given me fair warning, I'd have told you right then and there where you could put..."

Daniel held up his hand and cut him off. "I seem to recall you doing the very same thing to me once."

Jack merely shrugged. "That was a completely different situation. I told you I was ordering from that new Greek restaurant and even asked you what you wanted."

Daniel pretended indignation and shook his head. "Hah! You told me you wanted to try that new restaurant in town and asked me whether I wanted chicken or beef. You never once mentioned anything about Greek food." He grimaced and finished with a dramatic shiver of revulsion.

Jack merely smiled and returned to his original question. "So...is it pepperoni or mushrooms?"

Daniel opened his mouth to respond but paused when Kel reappeared at his side and tightly clasped Daniel's right bicep in both hands.

"Come with me."

Jack stepped forward to follow but stopped when Kel stretched his hand toward him. "You will remain here."

Jack shook his head and spoke slowly as though the other man was a simple-minded fool. "No, I will come with you."

Kel waved his hand and two men on either side of Jack grabbed his arms. "Do not release him unless I tell you to do so."

Jack struggled against their grasp, his anger growing at an alarming rate. "Daniel doesn't go anywhere without me, understand?"

Sensing the situation was quickly getting out of hand, Daniel spoke up. "If you're planning to trade me for one of your own men, my people won't allow you to give up only one of us. You have to send both of us across the bridge or they won't agree to it."

Kel merely shrugged dejectedly. "It is not my decision. If they do not agree to Vika's terms there will be war and that is what he wants anyway."

Surprised by the man's candor, Daniel glanced at Jack, who nodded to him, giving him permission to go. "No." He shook his head, his gaze never leaving Jack's. "I won't go alone. You have to trade both of us."

Kel scowled at him and motioned to the men who held Jack. "Keep that one here." He tightened his grip and began to drag Daniel away.

"Jack!"

Watching Daniel disappear into the throng of men surrounding him, Jack attempted to squash his feelings of apprehension at allowing them to take Daniel. Determined to help him, he waited patiently for the opportune moment to strike.

~~~~~~

Kel returned to the front of the group, nearly dragging Daniel behind him. Sam, almost overcome with relief at seeing her teammate, despite the fact that he was obviously injured and there was no sign of the Colonel anywhere, stepped forward and softly spoke to Arren.

Kel handed Daniel over to several of the other Galtain and quietly slipped back into the crowd unnoticed.

"That's Daniel Jackson, the archaeologist I told you about." She'd actually told Arren very little about the others, most of it the night before while traveling through the woods before Layin attacked, but Arren nodded anyway.

He leaned toward her and whispered, "The other is called O'Neill?" Sam nodded.

Arren raised his voice to be heard across the ravine. "Where is the one called O'Neill?"

~~~~~~

Jack quickly continued to work with the rope binding his hands, hoping no one would notice what he was doing. He’d just loosened the rope enough to take action, when Kel reappeared. Jack resisted the urge to renew his struggles for freedom and sensing it could be important attempted to overhear what Kel was saying to one of his men instead.

The man stepped back from Kel and tilted his head to one side. "How can I do such a thing? It is a dishonorable act."

This caught Jack's attention immediately. He leaned forward a little to hear Kel's response.

"When they cross the bridge, wait until Layin is nearly across and then fire." Confused as to why they'd want to harm one of their own men, Jack felt a shiver run down his spine as his mind was filled with the suspicion that Layin might not be the target. However, thinking it possible that he'd misunderstood the order, he chose to remain quiet.

The man Kel was speaking with still seemed very reluctant to agree. Kel reached forward and drew one of the bowman's arrows before placing it in his hand. "You are the most skilled among us. We cannot risk hitting Layin by mistake." He avoided the man's gaze. "It is Chieftain Vika's order."

No longer able to deny the very real threat to one of his team, hell, his best friend, Jack at last spoke, making no effort to prevent the rage and icy tone from entering his voice. "If you harm Daniel in any way, war is _exactly_ what you people will get, and I can guarantee you that my people won't be nearly as polite as we've been so far."

Kel turned to him and grimaced. "I do not agree with such an action but... " he began, his anger and resentment at being forced into it clear in his voice, "I cannot disobey Vika." He turned away and faced the bowman again. "Do as I have said."

The bowman turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Jack's anger increased. "Is that all you have to say?" Kel glanced back at him over his shoulder. "Do something! You can _stop_ that man!"

Kel glanced away and shook his head. "I cannot."

No longer willing to play along with anything the Galtain had planned and very determined to prevent that man from killing Daniel, Jack sprang into action, attacking the man on his left.

~~~~~~

There was a commotion at the back of the group of Galtain seconds before Sam heard the one voice she’d been waiting for.

"Car-ter!!"

"That's Colonel O'Neill," she said, trying not to let her concern surface too closely. There was a clear sense of urgency in the Colonel's voice, meaning something was very wrong. She tightened her grip on her gun, her eyes constantly scanning the group of men across the bridge, looking for anything suspicious.

Vika grabbed Daniel's arm and propelled him toward the bridge despite Daniel's obvious struggles not to comply. "You may have this one in exchange for Layin."

Sam glanced at Daniel and whispered to Arren, "We don't _have_ Layin. We should offer him something else."

Arren shrugged. "Layin is nearby. I need him to know the extent of his father's distrust in him and the depth of Vika's hatred for my people." Arren took a step forward and shook his head emphatically toward his counterpart. "No. We want both men allowed to go free."

Vika laughed derisively. "Two in exchange for one?"

Arren was clearly taken aback by that. "He is your son, your only heir. Surely he means that much to you."

Vika merely laughed again. "Layin is a foolish boy, but he is also your own kin. I know you Arren. You lack the courage to do as you imply you might. You will not harm him." He raised the zat and pointed it at Daniel. "However, I have no problem killing this one. After all, as you know, I have another to trade in his place."

" _I_ may not kill Layin, but who's to say Daniel's people might not in retaliation?"

Sam scowled at him and Arren hastened to quietly explain. "I do not believe that you would do such a thing, Captain Carter, but Vika does not know your nature as I do." Placated, she tried to prevent herself from interfering again and allow Arren to handle the situation. She realized the danger they were all in and had to consider the fact that there was much more at stake here than just the lives of her and her team.

Vika scowled at them. "It is of little importance to me whether or not they do. It will only fuel our desire to at last wipe the Tal'ist from this planet."

Sam seriously considered shooting the man and ending the whole thing. How could a father stand there and say such callous things about his own son? The urge to shoot Vika was growing steadily stronger, her concern for her team and Arren's people fast becoming the only things keeping that urge in check.

"So what do we do now?" she whispered.

Sam heard the sound of a zat opening in preparation to fire and glanced back across the ravine.

"I have shot him once already, Arren. If you delay any longer, I will shoot him again," Vika threatened, clearly very familiar with the effects of the weapon he held.

"Wait! " Arren turned then and faced his men. He walked toward them, paused, and wove his way through them toward the back, Teal'c closely following him. They stopped at the edge of the forest they'd come through and Arren softly called for Layin. They waited for several long seconds before Teal'c heard a sound off to his right, just before Arren's cousin stepped from the shelter of the trees.

"You heard everything?" Arren asked.

Layin nodded solemnly, somewhat disbelievingly. "He has allowed his hatred to consume him and is no longer the man I have known and called father all my life."

Teal'c stepped toward him. "Perhaps then it is time for you to lead your people."

Layin shrugged and looked at him helplessly. "How? He'd never allow me to create peace between our people."

Arren clasped his cousin on the shoulder and turned Layin to face him. "Offer them freedom from this war, dear cousin, and I believe you will be surprised how many of them will willingly follow you. You do not have to fight him or challenge him in any way, merely take with you those who want the freedom you offer them."

Layin took a long steady breath before nodding. "I will do what I can to prevent him from harming you or...our...people again."

Arren's face brightened at Layin's choice to refer to their people as one not two separate groups and offered his hand in renewed respect. Layin reached forward and clasped it tightly in a show of friendship.

Teal'c, not wanting to disrupt the newly restored camaraderie between the two but also unable to ignore the threat to Daniel Jackson's life, stepped toward them. "We must delay no further."

Layin nodded. "I am ready."

~~~~~~

Jack found himself fighting a virtual sea of men as more and more of Kel’s men tried to stop him. Fists and elbows came from nearly every direction as he fought his way through the crowd, some of them occasionally making contact. He was blind-sided by a blow to the head from somewhere ahead of him and reeled backward. He stumbled into another man who quickly pinned both his arms behind his back. He jerked away from the other man, trying to regain some kind of freedom of movement, but was unable to make any progress.

Changing tactics, he shifted his weight backward and lifted both legs to kick out at another man approaching him and sent the second man sprawling into an undignified heap several feet away. A third man approached but paused as Kel stepped forward and held up one hand.

"Stop this, now."

The men closing in on Jack backed off, but the one firmly pinning his arms, merely tightened his grip. Kel approached cautiously but made sure to stop just out of Jack's reach.

"You cannot help your friend now."

Scowling at the man, Jack jerked his arm again, but with no result.

"The hell I can't," he growled softly, a sense of calm determination firmly settling over him. He leaned forward slightly and shifted his weight backward again as he slammed his head into the face of the man behind him.

~~~~~~

Layin stopped at the edge of the bridge and faced his father. Taking several deep breaths, he steadied his nerves and glanced behind him one final time at his cousin before speaking loudly enough to be heard by everyone.

"Arren has agreed to grant me my freedom, Father, on the condition that you allow that man to cross safely."

Sam immediately turned to Arren. "What?" she whispered. "We can't leave here without the Colonel."

Arren nodded. "Layin will speak to his father and either convince him to release your other man or convince his people to accept him as their leader."

Surprised, she asked, "Will they agree?"

Arren shrugged in an honest answer. "If so, he will release Colonel O'Neill, if not, he will do what he can to ensure the man's escape."

Not liking how that was sounding in regards to the Colonel's chances of leaving unscathed, Sam turned her attention back to what was happening on the bridge. Layin stood on their side, waiting for his father's response while Vika seemed to be speaking to Daniel.

~~~~~~

"You will stay to one side of the bridge and cross at a slow pace so that I will know you are not attempting anything," Vika said quietly in Daniel's ear. "If you attempt to harm Layin as you pass him, I will shoot you myself."

Daniel shook his head. "You have to let Jack go as well. My people won't allow you to..."

Vika tightened his grip around Daniel's arm until it became painful and callously shook him. "I will do as I please. Your friend still has much to tell me, and I will have all the time I desire to learn what he knows."

Attempting to ignore Vika's not so subtle threat toward Jack’s health, Daniel tried again.

"I've told you before, we are _not_ allied with the Tal'ist against you. Our people could still..."

Vika shook him again, causing Daniel's injured arm to jostle against his side, sending shots of pain through both his arm and his ribs.

"Be silent or I will kill you here, now, myself."

Still stifling a gasp of pain, Daniel glared at the man. Having finally reached his tolerance level in dealing with the chieftain, all pretense of civility fled from both his face and his voice. His eyes narrowed into a deep scowl.

"I _won't_ leave my friend behind." It was something he'd come to believe in just as strongly as the other members of SG-1. Leaving someone behind was never an option.

Vika released his arm and instead grabbed a handful of hair, roughly jerking Daniel's head back at an uncomfortable angle. Vika waited for some sign of acquiescence but Daniel merely glared at him, determined not to waver in his resolve, even if it meant putting himself in further danger.

"If you do not cross now, I will first order your friend brought before me and kill him in front of you. Then I will order the deaths of those of your companions across the ravine before I turn you over to my men. They are very eager to find someone to blame for the attack at the city ruins." He paused and grinned maliciously. "They have learned the art of torture well. You would not live past the night."

Daniel realized that he was not in a position to offer Jack any sort of aid and reluctantly backed down. Remembering Jack's earlier words about a 'strategic withdrawal', and clearly seeing that he had no choice but to allow himself to be used as this man's pawn in regaining his son, Daniel carefully schooled his features of all expression and remained silent. He would do what needed to be done for now, but he was determined that he would _not_ leave this planet without _all_ of SG-1 beside him.

Vika growled at him and released his grip before shoving Daniel onto the first plank of the bridge.

~~~~~~

Jack turned and delivered a blow nearly matching one of Teal'c's usual strength to the jaw of the man who'd been holding him, sending him stumbling backward. He spun back around to face Kel and leapt at the man, drawing a dagger at the other man's belt and pressing it to the Galtain's throat. The dozen or so men, who'd been advancing on him, froze, waiting to see what he would do next.

"Tell them to let me pass," Jack hissed threateningly in Kel's ear.

Kel hesitated only a brief moment before complying and telling the crowd of men to back off. As the men parted giving them an open path, Jack scanned each one as he passed, looking for any signs of someone foolish enough to attempt to stop him from reaching Daniel.

~~~~~~

Watching carefully both Vika and his men and Layin for signs of danger to Daniel Jackson, Teal'c was the first to notice the shift in the crowd of men near the back of the group where he suspected O'Neill was being kept. He noticed the men parting to allow another to pass and immediately recognized the silvering hair and straight-backed carriage.

"Captain Carter," he called softly. When she glanced up at him and he was sure he had her attention, Teal'c motioned toward the latest commotion and the emerging form of their leader.

"What's going on?" she asked softly.

Teal'c shook his head. He had as little an idea as she. Prepared to act should the situation call for it, Teal'c gripped his staff weapon tightly and watched Colonel O'Neill slowly make his way toward the front of the group. When he'd passed the largest group of men, he momentarily glanced over his shoulder before spinning fully around to face them. The man he'd obviously been dragging along with him was pushed out of the way as O’Neill began shoving his way between Vika's other men as he attempted to make his way toward the bridge.

Unsure what was of such importance, Teal'c's gaze immediately flew back to the carefully but steadily moving figure of Daniel Jackson. The scholar was nearly halfway across the bridge and appeared to be in no danger. Still, Teal'c couldn't deny the fact that he too now felt an impending sense of danger.

~~~~~~

Jack shoved another man out of his way as he fought through the crowd, slowly making his way toward the bridge. When he finally had a clear view of the scene before him, his heart nearly stopped. Daniel had paused halfway across the bridge, less than two feet from the man Kel called Layin and the bowman was already taking careful aim. Jack realized he didn't have near enough time to reach the armed Galtain before he released the arrow.

"Daniel!! Get down!"

**  
**

Chapter 8

Daniel kept his gaze fixed firmly on Sam's face, trying to keep in mind that his goal was to cross the bridge alive so that he could return later and free Jack. However, the further away he walked, the greater the need to turn back was fast becoming. Despite his resolve otherwise, he paused, only vaguely aware of how close he stood near the man he was being 'traded' for.

"Daniel?"

He glanced up to see Sam staring at him curiously from across the other half of the bridge, obviously wondering what had made him stop his steady progress toward 'freedom'. He turned as he realized that Layin had stopped walking as well and met the other man's gaze.

"I wish you to know that I will do what I can to stop my father and help set your friend free. There will be no more 'prisoners' on Tal."

Taken aback to say the least, Daniel nodded.

"I hope that..." he paused as a gut feeling alerted him to danger. Glancing behind him, Daniel was surprised to see Jack appear amongst the group of men crowded on the side of the bridge he'd just left behind. Confused, he barely had time to register the urgent look on his friend's face before Jack called out in warning to him. Instinct and skills learned the hard way from only a few years of enduring life or death missions kicked in, prompting Daniel to grab Layin's arm and pull the both of them out of harm’s way.

A mere second passed before he felt the telltale whoosh of something obviously lethal rush over their heads and embed itself in one of the many posts in the railing on either side of the bridge. Still crouching, Daniel lifted his head from the protective curl of his arm and stared at the still wavering end of a feathered arrow shaft. Relief flooded through him as he realized how close he'd come to death, yet again, and he released the breath he'd been holding.

"Daniel!"

~~~~~~

Hardly even aware that she'd called out to him again, Sam stood frozen, unable to form a thought past the realization that the Galtain had just tried to kill Daniel. Tightening her grip on her weapon, she took a step toward the bridge with the intention of crossing it, but was halted by Arren. She glanced down at the hand lightly resting on her forearm and then up at him.

"We must not interfere."

Incredulous, she raised both eyebrows. "What? They're trying to kill my friend." She shook her head and said softly, "Arren, I have tried to do this the way you asked me to, but I won’t let them kill Daniel. "

Arren shook his head. "No, _Vika_ gave the order. If we interfere now, he can still order the deaths of your people and mine." His gaze turned both desperate and determined. "I will not allow our people to continue fighting as we have in the past. There will _be no more death_."

Still thoroughly frustrated and angry as hell with the whole situation, Sam merely swallowed her next comment and turned back to keep a careful watch on what was happening on the far side of the bridge, determined to intervene regardless of Arren's warnings if the situation offered no other alternatives to save the lives of her friends.

~~~~~~

Jack took a deep breath, trying to calm his ragged breathing. He'd been so sure that he'd been too late to warn Daniel. From the moment of their capture, he'd been convinced that this would be the mission he'd been dreading ever since he'd agreed with Daniel that he should be on the team. The thought of losing him, or any of his team, really, scared him more than he was willing to admit, even to himself.

Glancing back toward the stunned bowman, who'd actually dropped his bow on the ground and stood frozen as though afraid to admit what he'd almost done, Jack took a step toward the bridge, intent on joining Daniel. However, the Galtain leader had other plans.

Vika purposefully stepped directly into Jack's path, cutting off his access to the bridge, and pointed the zat at his chest.

"Stop! Don't move, or I will kill you where you stand."

_  
_

Is this guy serious, Jack thought, nearly at the end of his rapidly shrinking patience. Wishing he still held Kel's knife, Jack took a step forward.

"Father!"

Jack shifted his gaze toward the light haired man standing on the bridge beside Daniel. He'd taken several steps toward the chieftain and was holding one arm before him in a placating manner, obviously trying to get his father's attention.

Vika turned slowly and faced the far side of the ravine, glancing behind him frequently to insure that Jack didn't move.

"Come here, Layin. It is time you rejoined your own people."

Confused by the strange inflection in his voice, Layin hesitated to comply before he took several more steps forward. He scanned the crowd of men and rested his gaze on the still dazed features of the bowman who'd missed the one called Daniel and nearly hit him instead. Wondering what had become of his people that would allow them to justify murdering an unarmed man, he looked back at his father, the man he now realized he barely even recognized.

"Did you tell Mar to kill this man?" He gestured with one arm toward Daniel who was standing directly behind him. "An unarmed foreigner, uninvolved in any of our personal disputes..." He shook his head in bewilderment. "What _possible_ gain could be achieved through his death in such a dishonorable manner?"

Vika laughed mirthlessly. "That, dear son, is why you will _never_ be fit to lead our people." He lifted the zat and aimed it squarely at Layin's chest.

"Stop!" Daniel cried, the same time Kel yelled, "Chief Vika, please!" and rushed forward. Unable to take any real action, Daniel merely watched as Kel stopped next to Vika and placed one hand on the chieftain's arm.

"Vika, _please_. He is your _son_ , the future of our people."

Vika shook his head vigorously. "He is against us. I can see it in him." He sneered at Layin. "He is allied with _Arren_ now."

Stunned, Kel looked at Layin for confirmation.

Layin shrugged helplessly. "I have followed you all these years, Father. I have even bought into the _lies_ you've told our people to further their hatred of Arren and the Tal'ist in the belief that what you were doing was the only way for our people to one day live in peace." He gestured behind him at the far side of the ravine. "However, I remembered how things were when I was young, and I began to believe that even if our people could no longer live together, that it _was_ possible for us to learn to live without fighting and killing our own kin, our blood." He dropped his arm by his side and faced his people with a sense of foreboding, unsure of the reception his next words would garner. "Arren has shown me the way that this is possible. He has offered our people the chance to rejoin the Tal'ist and put aside the ways of the Galtain forever."

Daniel immediately noticed the change in the crowd of men as they began to shift uncomfortably on their feet and whisper to one another, clearly causing the anxiousness he could almost feel coming from Layin. Wanting to encourage the young man, Daniel stepped up next to him and spoke softly.

"Keep going. They're mostly afraid of the idea, not rejecting it entirely..." Not really knowing if what he'd said was true or not, but sensing it was what Layin needed to hear to bolster his courage, Daniel hoped that he'd done the right thing.

Layin took another step forward. "We can, in time, learn to live as one again." The men in the crowd began to whisper more loudly and Layin had to raise his voice in order to be heard. "If you will only put aside your fears and remember that those you are _killing_ were once your friends or family, you will see the wisdom of what I am offering."

One man stepped forward from the others and spoke over the noise. "What you say may no longer be possible. There is too much bad blood between us now. We could never go back to how things once were."

Heartened by the fact that they at least appeared to be considering the idea, Layin quickly replied. "Perhaps not." The crowd quickly grew quiet, obviously not expecting him to agree so quickly. "It may take time for us to heal as a people again and accept the changes that we once feared so greatly that the Tal'ist have decreed. We may even find it unlikely to occur in our time, but we must consider the future of those in our village waiting for us to return. We must think of our people as a whole, our future, our very survival."

His anger growing by the minute, Vika once again raised the zat and pointed it at Layin. "Stop this nonsense now. Arren is like his father was before him. He will bring the evil ones down upon us once again."

Arren, who’d remained silent up until this point, stepped onto the bridge but refrained from going further, not wanting to provoke the hostile situation any more. "Those who came through the dark circle have assured me that any action we take here will have little effect on whether or not the Jaffa return. It has been well over a generation since they have visited our world and are not likely to return even if they were aware of how we live our lives. Our planet is no longer of importance to them." He shrugged. "We are free to live as we please."

Vika scowled darkly. "Lies!" He began to wave the zat in the air. "You are all telling lies."

~~~~~~

Jack watched the chieftain’s every move warily, prepared to move in. He didn't like how quickly the situation was escalating toward a violent end for one or more players. If they weren't careful, they'd have a family feud on their hands on top of everything else.

"Father..."

"No!" Vika interjected, cutting him off before he could start. "You are the worst of them. My own _son_ , turning against me..."

"Father, listen to me. We can do this. You can lead our people into an age of peace. They will follow you as they always have if you will only..."

Jack sensed it a fraction of a second before Vika sprang into action. The Galtain lifted the zat, aiming it at Layin, and began to fire it the same second Jack stepped forward. He brought his arm up in a fast arc, knocking Vika's hand just enough to cause the shot to go wide and harmlessly strike one of the posts on the side of the bridge. Enraged, Vika spun around to face him, striking him across the chest with one hand and firing the zat with the other before Jack had a chance to respond.

Electric shocks of energy enveloped his entire body, sending little rivulets of pain arcing their way from head to toe and overloading Jack's nervous system, causing his muscles to cramp and stiffen in response. He felt the ground beneath his feet tilt and then rush at him before he collapsed in a boneless heap, every muscle still twitching in response.

~~~~~~

"Jack!" Daniel called as he watched his friend crumple to the ground. Knowing he'd be of very limited usefulness, Daniel rushed forward anyway. He paused alongside Layin the same moment Vika spun around and sprinted the short distance between them, heading directly toward Daniel. Layin took a step toward him.

"Father!"

Vika never showed any signs of slowing. He merely altered his course and slammed directly into Layin, knocking the young man to the ground.

"You are no son of mine!" Vika once again raised the zat and aimed it at the fallen man.

Utterly confused by the chieftain’s irrational behavior, and seeing no alternative, Daniel used his good hand to belt the man across the face, knocking him off balance. Taking advantage of the upper hand while it presented itself, Daniel quickly grasped the zat dangling loosely from the other man's hand and tossed it out of reach, knowing he'd never be able to keep it out of Vika's grasp with only one arm to defend himself. The native recovered in record time and stood to deliver a sizeable blow to Daniel's jaw in one fluid motion.

~~~~~~

With both the Colonel and Daniel down, struggling to stand but currently unable to do so, Sam lost her patience and turned to Arren in consternation. "Arren, we don't have a choice any more. We _are_ going to do _something_ , with or without your help."

Arren hesitated a long moment before nodding. "Only the three of us should go," he said, indicating himself, Sam and Teal'c.

She glanced behind her at the twenty or so men waiting and eager to back them up.

Arren shook his head. "If we attempt to cross all at once, the others will see it as an act of aggression and may open fire. I wish to avoid bloodshed if I am able."

Seeing the very real truth in that, but not liking its implications, she nodded. "Alright."

With that, the trio stepped onto the bridge, easily fitting across the wide wooden structure side by side. Sam quickened her pace as she noticed the Colonel at last making his way to his feet.

~~~~~~

Jack stumbled as he pushed himself upright and had to catch himself with one hand against one of the main bridge posts. He shook his head to clear it of the fuzz left over from his body's reaction to the zat, and hurriedly made his way toward Daniel. He glanced up only long enough to note that the rest of his team was making its way toward him and that Layin was still attempting to reason with his father, who seemed intent on beating the young man into submission. Jack knelt next to Daniel and laid a hand on his good shoulder.

"You okay?"

Daniel looked up at him and cocked his head to the side. "Oh yeah. Nothing like getting sucker punched in the jaw to clear your head."

Jack grinned, held out one hand, and helped him to his feet. Ensuring Daniel actually was alright, Jack returned his attention to the family duel a few feet away.

"Guess we should break that up."

Daniel nodded, still rubbing his tender jaw.

Jack quickly inserted himself between the two natives, forcing them apart.

"What are you doing, spy?" Vika demanded, a wild look in his eyes that gave Jack the creeps.

"I'm trying to keep you from killing your son, you idiot."

With no forewarning, Vika seemed to go berserk. In the amount of time it took for Daniel to take two steps forward, Vika lashed out at both Jack and Layin, sending the two of them crashing into the thin railing of the bridge. A loud crack splintered the silence as the thin pieces of wood gave under the pressure exerted on them and shattered into small slivers.

Layin, being marginally more fortunate, managed to grasp one of the posts and maintain his balance, while Jack found himself teetering on the edge, nothing but air behind him. Desperate, he instinctively flung an arm out toward Daniel, who barely managed to grasp it in time. However, momentum worked against them and Daniel had no time to compensate before gravity won and pulled Jack backward.

~~~~~~

Teal'c realized the danger O'Neill was in the moment he stepped between the two Galtain. Fearing he was already too late, he broke into a run and crossed the fifty-foot span between himself and his friends in mere seconds; just in time to watch O'Neill disappear over the edge.

"Stop!"

Instinct made him pause less than twenty feet from Layin and the others. He glanced up to see Kel standing near the still shaking form of Layin, aiming the recovered zat gun directly at Teal'c's chest.

~~~~~~

The disorienting sensation of weightlessness seemed to last much longer than the one or two seconds it actually took for Jack to come to a jarring halt. At the same time he found himself attempting to swallow his heart, which felt like it had somehow managed to find its way into his throat, he also heard Daniel's cry of pain. Reality once again slammed back into perspective and Jack realized what, or who, exactly, had saved his life and prevented him from meeting what almost certainly would have been his death in the churning water more than a hundred and fifty feet below him.

Regaining his sense of direction, he tried to slow his still racing heart and calm his breathing as he allowed his gaze to slowly track the curve of his arm upward toward his wrist, tightly enclosed in a firm grasp.

"Jack?"

Hearing the effort in his friend's voice, Jack's gaze rose further to see Daniel's pinched expression, his face drained of all color. He immediately noticed that Daniel seemed to be gasping for each breath of air, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. Confused, Jack's concern tripled.

"Daniel?"

Daniel dragged in another shaky, agonized breath, and unconsciously tightened his grip on Jack's arm. He was only vaguely aware of the conversation going on around them from above. Every ounce of energy he had was concentrated solely on maintaining both his grip and his air intake.

"Daniel?" Jack repeated, concern making his voice sharper than he'd intended.

Daniel took several shaky breaths before forcing his eyes open again. "Jack? Are you..." he paused and carefully drew in another breath, "are you ok?"

Jack was startled by the fine sheen of sweat across Daniel's brow. "Yeah, you?" Daniel grimaced and Jack felt his grip slacken just enough to make Daniel jerk and refocus his attention. Jack forced his body to work against the pull of gravity and lifted his left arm to grasp Daniel's more tightly. Feeling more secure, he met Daniel's gaze again. "Daniel?"

Daniel swallowed back the nausea, knowing that Jack would agree that this was definitely a bad time to be feeling queasy, regardless of the circumstances, and decided to answer him truthfully. "Not...not so good. I can't..."

"Daniel, what's..." he paused as he realized the answer to his own question. Oh god. Of course! The way Daniel was sprawled across the bridge meant that he’d reacted on instinct and his broken arm was probably wedged underneath him. "Damn!!" he swore softly, wondering where the hell the others were. "Teal'c!"

~~~~~~

Sam desperately glanced between the Colonel and the natives standing on the bridge opposite her. She'd seen Daniel's injury, and she knew that he would only be able to do so much to help the Colonel. If she or Teal'c didn't do something quickly, there was a chance that the Colonel could drag Daniel over the edge of the bridge with him. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she realized that she was watching history repeat itself. Only this time, if they fell, there wasn't much chance of either of them surviving. She desperately glanced at Arren.

"This is it, Arren. We have to do something," she whispered.

Arren glanced between her and Teal'c and nodded. He took several steps toward Kel but stopped when the Galtain shifted the zats aim toward him.

"Stop! You must not come any further." Kel now stood less than seven feet from them, grasping the zat awkwardly, obviously unfamiliar with the weapon and unsure what to do.

Arren raised both hands before him to show that he wasn't threatening anyone. "Kel, listen to me. These people have done nothing to harm any of us since they arrived and yet we have treated them like the enemy."

"That is what they are, Kel," Vika said softly, standing just behind Kel, his gaze never leaving Teal'c.

Layin unsteadily pushed himself to his feet and stood, leaning on the bridge beside him for support. "Kel, Arren is right." He reached out and laid one hand on Kel's arm. "I have traveled with these people. Their only wish is to get home safely. They play no part in our own troubles."

Indecision flared briefly in his eyes as Kel glanced between Layin and Arren, clearly torn over his decision.

~~~~~~

Daniel wished he could look to see what was going on with the others, but he could barely keep his mind focused on what he was doing.

"Daniel, just...hold on."

He nearly laughed at that. He was lying stretched out across the bridge, his broken arm pinned between his own body and the wooden planks below him and putting considerable pressure on his already bruised ribs. The only thing that was preventing both of them from falling was his own stubborn determination.

"Daniel..."

Daniel forced his eyes open again and met Jack's gaze head-on. He immediately recognized the look he saw there.

"You're kidding yourself, Jack. There's no..." he paused, struggling to draw in a decent breath, "there’s no way in _hell_ I'm letting go."

Trying to avoid Jack's now stony glare, Daniel shifted his gaze away from the man hanging below him on to the remains of the bridge's railing, hoping to find something to get them out of their current situation.

Jack didn't even attempt to argue with Daniel. He knew, if the situation was reversed, he'd do the same. Hell, he pretty much had less than forty-eight hours ago. Still, he wasn't about to just hang around and wait for the idiots above them to decide that his team wasn't a threat after all. Not when it was costing Daniel so much every second he was.

He glanced away, looking for something, anything, to grab on to. Within seconds he spotted it. A piece of wood still swinging from a length of rope less than four feet from him, one of the many small pieces left from the shattered remains of the guard rails.

"Fine."

Surprised, Daniel looked down again. "What?"

"I said, fine." Jack attempted to shrug with only one shoulder. "But let's not just hang around here."

Daniel nodded. "Good idea...now what?"

"Can you give me a little swing over?" he asked, indicating with his head the direction he wanted to go. He watched Daniel turn his head in that direction and wasn't surprised that it took the younger man only a brief second to realize what his plan was.

Daniel nodded. "Think so."

~~~~~~

Vika took several steps forward. "Listen to me, Kel."

"No, Father," Layin spat, anger clear in his voice. "We have listened to your hatred long enough. It is time to put an end to this."

Kel, still standing between the two men, shook his head. "I do not understand."

"There is no need for you to understand." Vika raised one hand. "Give me the weapon, Kel."

"No!" Layin cried, drawing Kel's startled gaze.

Vika seized the opportunity and latched onto Kel's arm, wrenching the zat from his grasp as he moved and firing it in the same motion. The blue energy shot completely enveloped Kel, brutal muscle spasms causing his body to tense briefly before crumpling to the bridge.

**  
**

Chapter 9

Jack stretched as far as he was able and tightly grasped the rope in his right hand.

Daniel sighed in relief the instant it appeared this try had been successful. He wasn't sure he could muster up the strength to try swinging Jack across the four foot or so gap again.

"You got it?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah." He wrapped one foot around the rope, used the other to hold it tight, and released his grip on Daniel's arm.

~~~~~~

Layin moved a fraction of a second faster than the others and was the first to reach Vika. He propelled himself at his father and knocked them both off their feet.

Teal'c was the second one in motion. He drew the zat gun resting at his side from its holster and powered it up while taking three steps toward Layin and Vika, placing him just out of arm’s reach of the two struggling men.

"Stop this," Teal'c commanded, his tone sharp and abrupt, a rare show of emotion.

Both men froze, clearly startled by the unmistakable tone of authority in Teal'c's voice.

Carter waited only long enough to be sure that Teal'c didn't need her help before rushing to Daniel's side. She knelt beside him and looked over the edge of the bridge. What she saw made her heart catch in her throat. The Colonel was gone. Confused, she tried to recall hearing a splash or yell or anything that would indicate when he could have fallen.

"Sam?"

Tearing her eyes away from the water so far below them, Sam glanced at Daniel again and realized that he had not moved. She gently laid one hand on his shoulder and the other on his side before easing him onto his back. He grimaced and gasped as he rolled on his arm and forced his eyes open.

"Jack?"

She diverted her gaze and shook her head. "Daniel..." she paused, unsure how to ask him what she needed to know.

Daniel shook his head and gave her a small smile. "No. Sam, he's there."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Daniel, there's no one..."

"No," he interrupted her. "Look _under_ the bridge."

"Carter." She knew that irritated tone well.

She opened her eyes again and raised both eyebrows. Relief flooded through her as Daniel's meaning finally sunk in. She quickly scrambled back to the edge of the bridge and leaned over. There, nearly three feet from the railing under them, was Colonel O'Neill, hanging from a thin piece of rope tied to one of the wooden planks supporting the under side of the bridge.

"Sir?"

He turned at the sound of her voice and grinned at her. "Hey Carter, glad you could join us."

She smiled back at him and nodded. "Yes, sir."

"You mind lending me a hand?" He asked, indicating the precarious position he was in.

Looking for some way to do that, she hesitated. "Um, sir?"

He sighed dramatically and shifted his grip on the rope. "Some rope would be helpful, Captain."

"Oh! Yes, sir." Her mind now fully kicking into gear again, she released her pack from its clasps on her vest and began rummaging through it for the long coil of rope every member of the team packed along with their other gear. Sometimes it _was_ very useful to be prepared for nearly every imaginable scenario.

Daniel took several long breaths to regain a normal rhythm, trying not to breathe too deeply and stress his very bruised and possibly cracked ribs any further. He waved off Sam's offer of help and pushed himself into a sitting position, careful not to further aggravate his ribs or his arm, both of which were now throbbing intensely. The pain in his shoulder had returned as well.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c began, pausing until he was sure he had the archaeologist's attention, "are you injured further?"

Surprised, Daniel turned to face him and spotted the twenty or so armed men who'd at some point crossed the bridge and were now standing only a few feet away. Noticing their tense expressions, he glanced behind him to see the Galtain had also stepped onto the bridge and were now slowly advancing on them.

"Daniel Jackson?"

"I'm fine, Teal'c." He said, turning back again to see Teal'c helping Layin to his feet, the zat still focused directly at Vika. He met Teal'c's brief glance and immediately recognized the look of disbelief. Ok. So fine was a bit of a stretch. "I'll live."

Sam was only listening with half an ear, her concentration focused on tying a portion of the rope securely to one of the wooden planks of the bridge. When the knot was tight, she grabbed the longest portion of the remaining rope and looked under the bridge again.

"Sir?" She waited until the Colonel readjusted his grip and held out his hand before tossing him the small coil of rope.

"Thanks, Carter."

She nodded. "No problem, Sir."

"Um, Sam?" Daniel called softly, watching the Galtain warriors warily, very aware of the fact that he was still weaponless. Not that he was even sure that he could hold or steady a gun at that moment.

Sam immediately straightened and looked around her. They were now surrounded by two large groups of warriors who'd been locked in a civil war that had lasted nearly an entire generation. She stood and pulled Daniel up with her, keeping her back to the place where she'd just tossed over the rope.

Arren slowly raised both hands before him to show that he was unarmed and carefully approached Layin.

"Where do our people go from here, my friend?"

Layin turned to him. "I do not know," he said honestly.

"We go home, mourn our dead, remember why we must fight to save _our_ people, and then back to war," Vika said as he pushed himself to his feet. "As we have always done."

"Father..."

"No, Layin," Vika growled. "I will hear no more talk of peace among our people and the Tal'ist."

Arren shook his head in resignation. "Vika, please..."

Vika took a threatening step toward Arren and Teal'c once again raised the zat and pointed it directly at Vika's chest.

"Do not go a step further," he said softly.

The Galtain tensed as a group and began reaching for their weapons. The Tal'ist wasted no time before going for their own weapons. Sensing the situation was quickly deteriorating, Layin turned to face the Galtain and raised both hands again so that it was clear that he did not carry a weapon.

"Please...don't do this. It is not necessary for our people to fight one another."

Arren quickly mimicked Layin and faced the Tal'ist. "Listen to him. He speaks the truth...his words could save the lives of all our people." 

Layin nodded. "Yes, all the people of Tal."

Both groups hesitated for what seemed like hours before they relaxed and eased their grips on their weapons, lowering them to a non-threatening position. A heavy silence hung over the group.

Vika vehemently shook his head. "I will _not_ allow you to destroy our world again. I will _not_ live as our ancestors did. I will _not_ allow my people to _live_ under the rule of a _false god ever again_."

"They don't have to."

Startled, Daniel turned to see Jack standing right behind him, looking tired, worn, and frustrated, but very much alive. He met Jack's gaze and without a word asked if he was alright. Jack nodded and clasped him on the arm, returning the question. Daniel gave him a half smile that more resembled a grimace and moved aside so that Jack could join the small group in the center of the bridge.

Jack nodded to both Carter and Teal'c before stopping next to Layin and facing Vika—there would be time for reunions later. For now, he had to somehow manage to quell a civil war.

"Your people aren't much of a threat to the Goa'uld. They don't care how you live your lives or what gods you worship." He glanced around him, looking at the Galtain and the Tal'ist alike. "You could bury the gate after we're gone." When he received no response, he continued. "The Goa'uld obviously abandoned this planet a long time ago. They won't..."

"How do you _know_ they will not return?" Vika demanded.

Jack turned to Teal'c but kept his attention focused on Vika, in case the man tried something else. "Teal'c, how far is this planet from the nearest Goa'uld stronghold?"

"More than a year's travel in the fastest ha’taak vessel."

Jack nodded and turned back again. "There. You see? There's no strategic value to this planet, which means they're probably not even aware of you any more. They don't _care_ what you do. You're free to live your lives as you please."

"You cannot guarantee us that."

Jack sighed heavily and Teal'c stepped forward. "Heru'ur abandoned your planet many years ago because it could no longer provide him the mineral he needed to win a war against his enemy. He is still attempting to recover from that defeat and is in even greater need of that mineral. He will not return to a planet that cannot offer him an advantage against his enemy. It would not..."

"What you say is lies."

Layin clenched his fists and stepped forward. "Father, _listen_ to them. They speak the truth. They only wish to help our people."

Vika shook his head and scowled at his son. "You will _never_ convince me."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, apparently."

Arren shook his head. "Vika..."

"No! You have all been deceived." He turned to Layin. "I will not allow you to destroy our people." He took a step forward and paused as Teal'c followed him. He pointed at Layin. "I _will not_ allow you to do this. You have _betrayed_ your own people. You will be..."

Vika stopped mid-sentence and without warning grabbed Arren, tossing him into Teal'c and leaving the way open to his son. Jack stepped in his path and quickly found himself in the middle of the same fight yet again. This time, Jack quickly gained the upper hand and sent Vika to his knees with one punch.

Vika growled in rage and pulled a knife free that he'd kept hidden inside his boot. He stood and lunged at Jack, but froze as a blue energy surge enveloped his entire body. The knife fell from his grasp as he collapsed in a boneless heap onto the bridge.

Layin rushed to his father's side. He sighed with relief to discover he was still breathing. He glanced up to see Kel still aiming the zat gun at Vika's prone body.

Kel shook his head and seemed to regain his sense of reality. He caught Layin's gaze. "I am sorry, but I did not know how else to prevent him from causing our people more undue harm."

Layin nodded. "I do not blame you, Kel." He looked down at the graying man in his arms. "My father is not the man he once was. He allowed his hate to nearly drive him mad."

"Nearly?" Jack said under his breath, shrugging when Daniel glanced at him.

Kel stepped forward and knelt in front of Layin on one knee. He presented the zat to him as though it were a sign of power and briefly bowed his head to him. He glanced at his people and then back again before bowing his head. "I believe I speak for all our people when I say that we will gladly follow you in whatever way you think is best."

Layin searched the faces of all of his people in turn, searching for confirmation of this declaration. The trust and respect that he saw only strengthened his determination. He nodded. "Arren."

Arren knelt beside him and waited for his response.

Layin tried to smile. "I am ready to do as you asked of me."

Arren returned his smile and clasped him on the arm. "Good. Then our people can finally begin to heal once again."

**  
**

Chapter 10

The trip back to the Stargate was going to be delayed considerably due to both Arren and Layin's insistence that they and their men escort SG-1 back to the Gate. Per Layin's request, Vika was bound hand and foot and was already being escorted back to what was now being considered the 'temporary' home of the Galtain people.

There was a tense feeling in the air between the people of Tal, but with both Arren and Layin moving amongst their people and encouraging them to talk, it was slowly beginning to ease. As the two formerly warring groups attempted to reunite with one another, SG-1 was having their own small reunion apart from all the excitement.

Carter was digging through her pack looking for the med kit and any cloth that could be used for bandages while Teal'c recoiled the rope Jack had used at the bridge. Daniel was leaning against a small tree nearby half asleep, while Jack was shredding more of the lining from his coat to repair Daniel's sling.

Jack gathered the strips of cloth in his hands and moved closer to Daniel, sitting beside him.

"Daniel?"

Forcing his eyes open, Daniel blinked a few times and grimaced. "Jack."

"How's the pain?" 

Daniel tried to shrug, thought better of it, and cocked his head to the side instead. "I'm fine."

Jack winced dramatically. "That bad, huh."

Daniel gave him a half smile. "Really, Jack. It's not that bad." He yawned. "I just want to get home to Janet so she can patch me up and let me take a nap."

Jack smiled and shook his head. "Yeah, well, according to Carter, it'll be at least a day and half before we get there so how about letting me take a look."

Daniel peeled his eyes open again but hesitated a few seconds more before he nodded. He allowed Jack to help him shed his coat and remove the sling from his arm and chest, with little fuss, but when he tried to move his arm to allow Jack to check his ribs, the combination of pain throughout what felt like the whole left side of his body made him gasp. He unintentionally let a curse in Abydonian slip out with it.

Jack winced in sympathy and glanced behind him. "Carter, med kit?" He wasn't surprised when she only looked up long enough to toss him the kit and insure he caught it before going back to her work. He suspected that she and Teal'c both were trying to find something to busy themselves with while he and Daniel talked. He wasn't sure how he felt about his team knowing him well enough to do that.

Daniel had nearly drifted off to sleep again, the constant pain the only thing keeping him awake, when he felt a sharp prick in his thigh. He glanced down to see Jack giving him half a dose of morphine. "Remind me to thank Janet for that little addition to our kits."

Jack smiled. "I'll be sure to do that." He carefully helped Daniel move his arm enough to get a good look at his ribs. He drew in a long breath at the sight of the deep purple bruising covering nearly the whole left side of Daniel's chest.

Daniel grimaced. "It looks worse than it feels."

Jack merely raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. He tried to be as quick as possible with the exam, not surprised to find two cracked but not broken ribs and several more that were extremely tender. He used the cloth Carter had cut to bind Daniel's chest and helped him readjust his clothes when he was finished. He was tying the sling together again when he finally decided to break the silence that had fallen over them.

"Daniel..."

Daniel opened one eye. "Jack..." he replied teasingly. He saw the completely serious expression on his friend's face and immediately sobered, opening the other eye and lifting his head.

"Daniel..." Jack tried again, paused. Damn. He wasn't any good at this sort of thing. He never had been.

Daniel reached out and laid his right hand on Jack's knee, the only part of him he could reach. "I know." He waited until Jack was looking at him again before continuing. "You saved my life in the river, Jack. The least I could do was return the favor."

Jack shook his head. "No, this was different, Daniel." He paused to gather his thoughts. "Look, I just want to say thank you. If you hadn't been there..."

Daniel nodded. "I know, Jack. If you hadn't... _followed_ after me," he smiled, "I would have drowned when that branch threw me against the rocks."

Jack returned his smile. "I guess in the future you'll think better of taking a swim off-world again," he said, the teasing tone returning to his voice.

Daniel tried not to laugh. The lingering tenderness in his ribs a sharp reminder of what a bad idea that was at the moment. "Sure, as long as you agree not to go anywhere _near_ anything more than five feet off the ground."

Jack laughed. "Yeah, and who was it I found walking along a crumpled wall more than ten feet high that could have been blown into the ravine behind it with a strong breeze?"

Daniel carefully shrugged with only one shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't, Danny, sure you don't." Daniel merely grinned. Jack placed his left hand on Daniel's cheek for a brief moment before finishing the sling. He was helping Daniel ease his arm into it when a shadow fell over them.

"Daniel?"

Daniel glanced up and shielded his eyes against the glare of the setting sun. Sam was standing just behind Jack. He smiled at her and beckoned her closer.

Sam had given them all the time she could bear before she had to join them and reconfirm in her own mind that they really were alive and well...or at least as well as could be expected. She sat beside Daniel and took his good hand in hers.

"Hey, Sam, Teal'c."

Sam glanced over her shoulder to see Teal'c less than a foot away from her. Despite the fact that she could sense that he was somewhere nearby, she hadn’t realized that he’d moved that close. It was odd that he was still able to find a way to sneak up on her. She was a little surprised though when Teal'c joined them in the grass.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Jack said nonchalantly. "A little frayed around the edges, pretty sore, exhausted, you know how it is."

Sam smiled. "I _was_ going to ask, Sir." Colonel O'Neill just nodded and smiled briefly at her before going back to the cloth sling. She looked expectantly at Daniel, waiting for an answer.

"I'm not sure to tell you the truth." He pointed at the med kit lying open beside him and the half-used morphine shot. "I think most of what I'm _not_ feeling is from the morphine, so..."

She nodded. "You'll be a lot better once we get home?"

He smiled. "Exactly."

She squeezed his hand. "I'm glad we got you back in..." she paused, realizing what she was about to say.

Daniel laughed softly. "In one piece?" He teased.

Sam shook her head and shrugged. "Well, almost in one piece."

Jack grimaced. "You have no idea."

"It is good to see you both again, O'Neill," Teal'c said, finally breaking his silence.

Sam nodded enthusiastically. "It certainly is."

Jack smiled. "I'd have to agree with that, T."

A shadow fell across them and Sam turned. Arren was standing directly behind the Colonel, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

"Are you well?"

Daniel nodded. "I'll be fine."

Arren smiled. "That is good. Your friends were very concerned about both of you. They were very diligent in their search and never swayed from their assurance that they would find you, despite my warnings that it may not be as they expected. They possess a rare degree of courage and loyalty." He crouched down and laid his hand on Sam's arm, glancing between her and Teal'c. "I am very proud to have known people such as you."

Sam smiled and nodded. "So am I, Arren."

Arren nodded as well and stood again. "We are ready to escort you whenever you feel you are able to travel." He turned and walked away, rejoining his men by the side of the bridge.

Jack finished tying the final knot on the sling and nodded. "Well, I guess that's our cue." 

Jack and Sam helped Daniel to his feet and together, SG-1 joined the people of Tal for the long walk back to the Stargate.

**The End**

  


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> AUTHOR'S NOTE: This started out as a fairly typical short story about two members of SG-1 who were separated from the others far from the Stargate (aren’t they always) and had to find their way back. Then, with no forewarning to me I might add, my Muse got bored, inspired me endlessly for something to entertain herself with, and the whole thing took on a life of its own and sort of...expanded from there, I guess you could say. So apparently, it's now one of those kinda loooong stories about the above subject with a little eminent peril and a few life or death scenarios just for flavor. Consider yourself warned and try not to let that deter you from reading ahead. So that said, I hope you enjoy it and don't fall asleep somewhere around the middle. Or anywhere else for that matter. ; )
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> **  
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> * feedback, as always, is not only welcomed but encouraged
> 
> **Note:** This fanfic is dedicated to my beta. Without her influence it never would have seen the light of day. And even if it had in its original form, you probably would have wished you hadn’t bothered with it. She’s a lifesaver. Any errors or awkward wording is completely my fault and more than likely something she warned me about. J 

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> © February 2004 Stargate SG1 and its characters are property of Stargate (II) productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money was exchanged (but I can't promise I wouldn't be tempted by offers). No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author. However, I'd probably be so thrilled that someone actually asked that I'd say yes anyway...

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